In my dojo the Junior Black Belt has been awarded to very few. In thirty plus years teaching in Maine I believe I have awarded JBB to three children. The youngster has to be exceptional in his/her training and at least 12 years of age. An in house certificate is awarded to the child with the underst...

My personal opinion is if an instructor gives a black belt to a child it is nothing more than a McBelt given by an instructor who runs a McDojo.
Give children any color belt one chooses just don't give them a black belt.
Wait till the child is at least 16 years old.
Jim Robinson

Dear Sue and George

So sorry for your loss of Tia.
There is such and empty place in the heart when our pets leave.
Jim Robinson

Best way to help keep toe fungis and disease away is to keep your dojo floor/bathrooms and changing areas clean. At the tender age of 67 I can still pass my toes through three one inch pine boards so I don't feel there would be a problem passing my booted foot through some nasty boys groin. Those wh...

First time I met George was in the fall of 1965 at a Mattsom Academy get together outside the Boston area. Said to myself, "This is our leader? Why he can't be more than fourteen years old." Then I find out he's almost three years older than I am. Hope I look that good at 70. Happy Birthda...

Dana When teaching a new student the Sanchin turn I make sure they do not spin the 180 degrees. Emphasizing the turn on the ball of the foot and keeping the heel low will prevent them from rising up and settling down. Also new students will drop thier hands/arms on a turn which has to be corrected. ...

Dana For years my horsestance and elbow strike in Kanshiwa kata lacked speed and power. Some time back without realizing it right off I began to cock my right hip and shoulder(Which is what most of us do I would imagine) a few inches to the rear of the left side and just before contact I would find ...

There are still a few of us around who fought with only a mouthpiece and a groin protector during the stone age of dojo and tournament fighting. The foam dipped equipment came into popularity in the early 70's and is far more improved now. The equipment is very good for the safety factor but what I ...

Uechi's own Jack Summers introduced hundreds of others and myself to the art of Ukemi at Buzz Durkins camp in 1990. Don't know if Jack called it Ukemi at the time or not but we did all kinds of foreward and backwards rolls under his masterful instruction. I found it very beneficial and from then on ...

Doing (slow) Sanchin with light weights was fun. Sanchin stepping with someone piggybacked on you was another.
2x4's placed between you and a partners abdomen and traversing back and forth.
Jim Robinson

My journey through Uechi started the day I walked into Charlie Earles Dojo decades ago. Didn't know a karate chop from a pork chop about the martial arts but fell in love with what I saw. Along the way I met some of the nicest people one could ever meet and some of the finast Okinawan instructors in...

This is to the fellow who calls himself "The Bronze Dago". I have a pretty fair collection of Black Belt Magazines from the mid sixties to the seventies. If you could give me the year and the month of the publication that your father and Master Ueshiro were in I may be able to find the art...

When the Uechi blue book first came out I purchased it for 55 bucks at the Providence dojo. That price was a steal back then and I wouldn't part with it for any amount of money.
Jim Robinson

Decades ago I brought my first brown belt from Maine to the Provicence Dojo to take his shodan test. His name was Pete. Pete passed the test and after, a crowed of us went to a local restaurant to celebrate. My good friend and Uechi veteran Ed Rafferty toasted Pete and said "Congradulations on ...

Best book on my shelf is The Tao of Jeet Kun Do by Bruce Lee.
Straight foreward, simple ,no junk. No contemporary martial arts fast food philosophies.
Jim Robinson