[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QrGCNzsCHM&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Muay Thai Kata 73010[/ame] Why didn't I ever get offered a belt to help keep my shorts up??
I can only imagine how much $ the parents are paying for each of those stripes their kids are "earning" for there deadly Muay Thai training... You realise ofcourse, that sooner or later we will have someone on here claiming to be 20 something dan in Muay Thai!! Looks like about a dozen belt colours, and easily as much stripes inbetween, whats that, something like a kazillion gradings... $ KACHING $ goes the cash register! Aaand we have just witnessed the birth of "McMuay Thai" LOL
Black belt Muay Thai program! Hmmm, I want one! Hey, i wonder if they have a dvd courses? Im excited LOL [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3qmLZ2zbvg"]YouTube - Tran's Authentic Muay Thai Curriculum[/ame]
Even I found this funny, but after all, I'll take a few quotes from their website. http://transkickboxing.com/index.html Authentic Muay Thai training is not just for elite level fighters in dingy gyms DEDICATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARTIAL ARTS BASED FITNESS TRAINING
According to his biography, he's a TKD guy who 'discovered' Muay Thai. As if we couldn't guess. Then, to make matters worse, the only Thai Boxing training he ever had was with Toddy, who graded him to "master". What a lousy lineage. Considering that there's no such thing as a "master" in Thai Boxing I find it rich. All in all, the guy has put together a good package for ripping off the average American who has no knowledge of what they're actually doing. For some reason, schools like this, in all martial arts, seem most common in the States. People there just really seem to buy into it for some reason.
Haven't watched the vid, MT Kata???? MT BB? Well you can get one of them here. There's money on the table if you can beat one of our B/B's. Betty you don't count, unless I pick the black belt, then you're toast
Well could be worse... next thing you will see at the fitness clubs will be wait for it..... THAI BO!!
I don't know if this is actually a joke post or not. I can't really take it for granted that it's a joke. Common sense says it should be but I've laughed at things like this before and then found out that, wait, the person actually is a moron. Lol, let me know man.
OK, I'm going to go against the flow a bit here (big surprise there). First, I'm not going to make any comments about the quality of Tran's people or program nor am I going to try to defend it. I am just going to make a point that IMO (when not abused) a belt system can be a very good thing to organize a curriculum and help keep students on track. I know full well that a belt ranking system is not part of the tradition of the Thai fighting systems (or Chinese, ect). I just believe that there is nothing wrong with an instructor adopting one to help there students improve. Many around here are very jaded by abuses of the belt systems by McDojos for profit and the watering down of standards. I understand that, but there are some schools that use it as a tool for growth and make it something that you need to grow into. In that case, IMO it has value. It also can be used as a tool to get students to turn things up a notch or more. What gets rewarded gets done, even if it's a silly piece of tape or another dan stripe on your belt. There are plenty of schools that use belts, have multiple colors of them, use stripes and don't charge testing fees (gasp). But rather use it as a tool to keep students on track and making progress by stepping it up where they often would not have otherwise. I am a training fanatic, but like everyone else I have my comfort zones and my priorities in training. Next year, I am testing for 7th dan under my instructor and it is something I will have to grow into and not some token test. We have an extremely well rounded curriculum and to be honest, there are parts of it that I only bare down on if I have to for testing. I'm really good about training on my submission grappling/BJJ, muay thai and boxing. I'm fairly decent at practicing my ground striking and some of my TKD. I'm fairly slack at other parts of the TKD and my FMA's and downright awful at my other weapons work. I never make time to train on some of that unless I have a test coming up in the next 12-18 months. When I know I have a test coming up, I balance out my training for that goal and I work everything that I am responsible for to meet that expectation. I know that I should be working my FMA's in particular more, but I always end up having a higher priority on my grappling ("hey, the world cup is only 5 weeks away, I'll get it after that"). There are others on my level who will cut corners on their cardio, weight training or diet unless they are being held accountable. If we who are on this level are doing this, what about our students?
Just so you are aware, you get a tip/stripe "everytime" you attend a class. Starting with 18 tips and you are progressed/receive next belt. I too, are in no way interested in belittling the students exsposed in the vid. Instructor certification looks like a piece of cake too.
My comments are not for or against Tran, they are about the value of a belt and stripe system as a tool, when it is used properly and not exploited. It's not the only valid tool nor is it one that eveyone has to use. I just wanted to point out there is a positive side that can be used, too.
