JohnASE

Kill Bill, Vol. 1. Campy with lots of action. I loved the way they spoofed the old Shaw Brothers kung fu movies and old samurai movies. The music was brilliant, the acting was just over-the-top enough, and I loved the way it was edited. Lots of great cuts, like when O-ren (Lucy Liu) and her gang strut down the hallway at the club. Of course, the slow-motion and music really made that scene.

That's what I thought when I first read what she said. You can't do better than your best. When you went on, I realized she was talking about goals. Your goal should be to do better than today's best! I get that. In college, I took part in a psych experiment about the effect of goals on performance. They had us do a repetitive task and counted the number of times we could do it in a given amount of time. Before beginning, they told us how many times an average person should be able to do it. I assume they told different groups different numbers to compare the results. I was pretty fast. So fast, that I hit their number with LOTS of time left. When I was way over their number, I felt myself relax and slow down! I did way better than the number they gave us, but nowhere near my best. If they had given me a higher number, I'm sure I would've done better.

I don't know what company you're dealing with. There is a company that calls themselves Tokaido Japan Direct International. I was never really sure what their connection is with the Tokaido gi manufacturing company. Tokaido Direct implies that they're the same company, but they're not. There might be some kind of ownership connection though. Whoever they are, they've been around for a while and seem like a reputable company. There are things going on internally within Tokaido (THE Tokaido) right now that might be disrupting production. I KNOW it's disrupting distribution. I'm not sure what is public knowledge and what is confidential, so I won't go into detail, but the company is in transition, and the transition doesn't seem to be going as smoothly as it might. I'm sure things will straighten themselves out eventually, but who knows how long it will take.

Sorry I didn't see this post until after, but we were there. We had a booth there as we do every year. It's hosted by Camarillo Shotokan but is open to other styles. I think most of the competitors were Shotokan, but there are always other Japanese/Okinawan styes represented. Every once in a while, you even get a non-Japanese style competitor. This year, I think I saw a couple Sasaki Kenpo kids. It's tough, though, if you're not used to traditional Japanese style tournament rules. Most competitors were pretty local but some traveled a bit. The event went well. Everyone I talked to had a good time. The atmosphere was relaxed. It all seemed to run pretty smoothly. The cool weather was nice. A little drizzle was annoying, but not too bad. Attendance was up. I don't know what the final count was, but I'd guess 250 to 300 competitors. I see it as basically a nice local event.

I'm stunned. I just heard about this from this thread. Thank you, Karate Forums. My sympathies go out to everyone involved. I've heard that Harry Cook and his wife are very nice people. I feel worse for the girl, of course, but I feel bad for them, too. I don't think this will have a big impact on the martial art community. I don't mean to belittle anything, but I don't think it's big news. It's rare, but things like this happen. I've heard of sexual harassment and even a rape and murder before. If he weren't Harry Cook, we probably wouldn't even be talking about this. It was half a world away from most of us. Relationships and marriages are WAY more common. I couldn't begin to tell you how many senseis I know that met their wives at the dojo, whether they were students or dojo moms. I would hope that the dojo will continue to be a place where things like this can happen. Shizentai, thank you for sharing your experience and your prospective. I hope it helps others to deal with similar situations and/or to understand the impact something like this can have on someone's life.

I remember one customer saying that he didn't allow spouses to spar against each other or kids to spar against parents, because of potential problems.

I can't imagine someone excluding MA shoes and allowing Vibrams. How about sports/medical tape?

Tiger Claw's Essential Uniform is really cheap wholesale, but it's not eligible for volume discounts. I don't know what the quality is like or how it compares to other cheap gis. We try to stay away from the low end of the market.

For a first gi, I recommend you go through your dojo. Most will supply gis. If yours doesn't, they should at least be able to offer a recommendation. Some senseis like to start their beginners in light weights, some in middle weights, and a few will start their students in heavy weights. You should NOT get a top quality gi like many of the ones mentioned in this thread. They run from about $150 to $250, give or take. Many beginners quit within a few months, so you might want to make sure you like training before spending big bucks. Even if you don't quit, the material, fit, and features of gis can vary quite a bit, and you don't know enough about what you want to make an informed decision. If you stick with it for a few months, you'll probably want more than one gi and will be ready to upgrade. Decent quality beginner gis in a light or medium weight will run around $30 to $40. That's where I'd recommend you start. If you want something heavier, you can get a basic heavy weight for around $70 to $80. These prices are approximate and for adult sizes. Anyone looking for small kid sizes will probably find prices a little lower. Oh, and all this applies to karate gi, not judo or jiujitsu gi. They're different.

For those in the UK (like the original poster), Tokon is what most of the rest of the world knows as Kamikaze.

Congrats on finding a dojo! We have many IOGKF dojo customers. Don't be surprised if you get a belt or gi with our logo on it! If you want to supplement your training with videos, Higaonna has about 18 that I can think of off the top of my head. There's the Encyclopedia of Goju Ryu series (10 volumes), the Goju Ryu Technical Series (6 volumes), Power Training, and probably the most popular, Goju Ryu Karate Kata. Good luck with your training!

Too funny! We have such a strong connection to people in this thread! holley: Wow! Tina's daughter? It's great that they're teaching together. I think I met a daughter when she was... maybe 10 or 11 years old. 10 or 15 years ago. Sorry if I hijacked your thread. likeke34: Of course, I remember you! Yeah, martial arts IS a small world. Margie was JUST telling me that we should keep an eye out for kanji you're sending for embroidery (assuming you're who I think you are). Then, I sit at my computer and see this post! By the way, she said she received it at her address, and it looks fine. still kicking: If you happen to attend IKF Sacramento's tournament, we have a booth there every year. Stop by and say "Hello."

I think it's great that you want to show what you do. Was that a pic of Tina I saw? Are you a student of hers? I haven't spoken with her in years! If you see her, tell her John from ASE Martial Arts Supply says "Hello." You're IKF? Our ties to the IKF run deep. We've dealt with a number of IKF schools for many years. It's thanks to George's father, Chuzo Kotaka, head of the IKF, that we carry the Champ Video line. We happened to be in Tokyo at the same time, and he accompanied my father and me to Champ's offices. Because of his introduction, they put their trust us, and we established a business relationship with them that we value highly. We are very grateful to him.

I won't go into much detail in this thread, but one benefit is that heavy weight uniforms are generally more durable. The thicker material will take longer to wear out, and the stitching it typically better. This isn't always the case, of course. There are some high-end, expensive uniforms that are on the lighter end of the spectrum. Also, heavier uniforms tend to look sharper. More crisp. This is subjective, of course, but many agree. And they tend to have better pop when doing forms. At traditional Japanese karate tournaments, you virtually never see a high level kata competitor in a light weight gi.

We're primarily a wholesale martial arts supply company so almost all of our customers have been training for a long time, and most know what they're doing. The most frequent chronic problem we hear about is bad knees. Many long time martial artists have them. One VERY experienced martial artist was telling me a couple days ago that he hasn't been able to kick air for a while, and now he can't even kick a bag without a lot of pain. The relief he got after his knee surgery years ago (maybe a decade?) was only temporary.

Most Tang Soo Do schools use "traditional" karate uniforms for doboks (Korean gi) at lower ranks. At higher ranks, they often use special TSD uniforms with colored trim, but even these are sometimes just custom trimmed karate gi. If you had a tournament cut uniform with shorter sleeves and pants, you might stand out, but you should be fine with a Ronin medium weight.

(Chuckle out loud)

(EDIT - deleted a misplaced link) What type are you looking for? You list your styles as "tae kwon do and sorin ryu karate". Do you want an open-style tournament or traditional Japanese style? Off the top of my head, I can only think of one open tournament coming up, the San Diego Grand Internationals. http://www.sdgrandinternationals.com/ There's a traditional Japanese event at UC Riverside in early May. It's put on by the UCR Shotokan club. Here's a link to a PDF of their flyer. http://www.karate.ucr.edu/docs/11shotokanWUKFposter.pdf This June, Camarillo Shotokan is putting on a traditional Japanese style tournament. Their flyer is on their home page. http://www.camarilloshotokan.com/ In August, there's a traditional Japanese karate tournament at CSU Long Beach that's part of L.A.'s Nisei Week celebration. There's actually karate, judo, AND kendo all on one floor. Spectators have to stay in the bleachers though, so they can't see anything up close. Here's a link to Nikkei Games Karate. I don't know where judo and kendo info can be found. http://www.nikkeikarate.com/ There aren't as many big tournaments around here as there used to be, especially open style. People are doing more small inter-school tournaments.

Thanks, isshinryu5toforever, but I'm not sure how much help I can be. I don't know that much about chest guards and less about nephrology! I'll share what I know. Most chest guards wrap around the back, but I'm not sure which ones cover the kidney area. Since you didn't indicate otherwise, I assume your son's kidney is roughly in the standard location. As I recall, when surgery is involved, kidneys are sometime placed lower. There ARE chest guards that are more than just padding. The Macho Chest Guard, for example has a light plastic shield sandwiched by padding. The plastic is somewhat flexible, so it might not be adequate for your needs. I'd guess you need something more substantial, but I don't know for sure. It's available from a variety of sources. Retail price is $48 for the kids size. http://www.macho.com/CHEST-GUARD-CHEST/productinfo/1%2DPRCH14/ I remember trying on a body protector years ago that was pretty heavy duty. It was firm, but not too hard. Someone punched me, and it dispersed the impact pretty well. I think it wrapped around the kidney area. It was dense, thick, heavy, and expensive. Retail was probably around $150 or so. I don't remember who carried it though. Now that I think about it, something that heavy duty probably wouldn't come in a child size. Maybe something could be custom made or modified. If you use some kind of hard shield, the sparring partner could be injured, like isshinryu5toforever said, unless you pad it inside and out. There are many types of high density foam. Sorry, I can't think of anything else, but like I said, we don't do much with chest guards. Good luck!

I know many would disagree with me, but I think that as the creator of your own style, you have the right to declare yourself a black belt in that style, even if you didn't earn one in another style. I agree that it's silly to call yourself grandmaster, at least until you have a really large following and have been teaching for a couple decades, but I see nothing wrong with you being a sensei. In my opinion, the term "black belt" by itself doesn't mean much. It's not sacred. Each group defines its own requirements for achieving that rank, and many are vastly different. Some styles don't teach kata, so their black belts don't know ANY kata. Some styles don't do ANY sparring, so obviously, their black belts don't spar well. To me, for the term black belt to have real meaning, it needs to be qualified: black belt in Shotokan or black belt in SKIF Shotokan or black belt in CallMeLuke-Ryu. Would you be criticized and dismissed for not being an official black belt? Heck yeah! Especially if you gain any kind of notoriety. Of course, most of this will come from within the martial arts community, not from potential students. At some point, maybe you'll find a way to prove yourself and the value of your style, but until then, others will scoff. Should you teach? Why not? You seem to think you have something of value to pass on and the ability to teach. I would hope you have enough knowledge to maintain the interest of your students for at least a couple years, and that you will continue your own training so that you'll have more and more to teach as time goes on. Now, my perspective is that of someone who grew up in Hollywood, California, where being different was the norm. I'm used to cultural diversity and inconsistent values. I'm not sure what things are like in the UK, but I've heard that martial arts in Europe are much more homogeneous than in the USA, so you might find more resistance there.

Speaking of out-of-shape fighters, does anyone remember Butterbean? IIRC, he fought way better than you would expect just by looking at him.

I agree that you should check it out. "Advanced" in a college course might not mean the same thing as advanced in regular dojo. If you have solid Shotokan basics, maybe that's enough. I suggest you contact the sensei.

I don't know if this was a mistake, but most of the gis on your list are kumite gis, while the Tokon Spirit is not. Tokon's kumite gi is the Dynamic. I'd guess the Spirit is somewhere in the 10 oz range, much heavier than your other gis.

I doubt growing domestically would bring hemp prices down. Like many things, I'd bet it would be cheaper to produce overseas, despite transportation costs, but I definitely agree that increased volume would bring down costs. One advantage to hemp, as I understand it, is that hemp is more "green" than cotton, and importing is less "green" than buying locally, so I'm sure "green" customers would prefer domestic crops. I didn't know that growing hemp commercially was prohibited in the US. As I understand it, you cannot get high off the hemp plants used for textiles. The funny thing is that I'm in California and medical marijuana here is quasi-legal. The state says it is; the federal government says it's not. Thanks for the info!

Macho just announced their price increase effective April 1st. I think Tiger Claw's increase was effective February 1st. Interesting. If you don't mind my asking, can I find info on your gi on the web somewhere? I'm not familiar with hemp gis.