JohnASE

If the OP wants to learn kata from a video, I'm not sure I see the harm. He should realize he's not really learning the kata let alone whichever art it comes from. He's just learning one small part. Sure, if he intends to go on and learn from an instructor, he might be learning bad habits now that he'd have to unlearn, but if this is what motivates him, why not? There are many sources of good video. I haven't watched too much of the stuff available for free online, but commercial instructional DVDs can have great picture and sound, often shoot the kata from multiple angles, can be run in slow motion, and usually include bunkai and other valuable info. For someone who's been training in a dojo and has decent basics, video can be a great tool to help learn a kata. I've seen it happen. I was running an instructional kata video at a tournament, and a couple kids were watching while waiting for their division to be called. I think they were green belts, maybe 10 or 11 years old. They said they'd never seen the kata before. In a short time, they had quickly learned a good chunk of it, and it didn't look half bad. Of course, as everyone said, there's more to a kata than learning the sequence, and having someone to correct you would be better, but some people don't have access to instruction. I know of a guy who instructs via video, meaning that you learn via prerecorded video, then you record your self. He views your video and suggests corrections if necessary. It's far from ideal, but many of his students are in rural areas, far from any dojo, and it's the best they can get.

For the purpose of this discussion, you can equate satin with silk. Either will vary in durability. I'm not sure if one tends to be better than the other. I'll avoid getting too technical here. Satin is a shiny fabric. It COULD be made from silk, but might be an artificial fiber like polyester or nylon. It seems to me that if a belt is made of silk the description will usually say so, but if it's made from an artificial fiber, it will say satin. Cotton can be a little shiny, too, but people usually still call it cotton. These are just my general impressions and will not apply to any specific belt. How badly does it fray? Again, it depends on the belt and even the wearer. A belt will usually begin to fray at the edges and at the knot as these spots get the most friction. For most people, the flat part of the belt will hold it's fabric for a long time because of all the stitching that runs down the belt. However, I've seen belts with very little black thread on them. As an example, I just saw a picture of a girl that look to be in her mid to late teens. I'd guess she'd earned her black belt 4 or 5 years ago. Her belt was almost all black near the embroidery, but it was almost all white or gray above that to the knot. Around her waist, it looked about 50% black with black in the middle and gray on the edges. With this kind of wear, I'd assume it was silk or satin.

I can't help much with brand recommendations, but kicking shields can vary in hardness and weight. You might want to specify what type you're looking for or check with your vendor before you purchase. We've sold a bunch of the Macho shields over the years, and our customers are very happy with them, but they're a little on the soft side. Most people are fine with them, but a few of our bigger, harder kicking customers prefer something with harder foam. Of course, harder usually means heavier and often thicker. Back in the day, we sold Permabilt shields. They were really hard and tough. No one complained that they were too soft, but some people complained they were too hard. Kicking them hurt. Different people prefer different shields for different purposes.

Sounds fine to me. I'm not familiar with your brand, but I'd guess that the sleeves will shrink a couple of inches (5cm?) maybe. Pants and jacket length will probably shrink the same or more. It's hard to predict as different brands can have vastly different shrinkage. It might take a couple washings. Don't rush it. Excessive heat can damage the fibers. It's probably better to let it shrink a bit before considering hemming. Half way down the thigh isn't that long for jacket length, but different dojos prefer different styles. I think the USA-NKf rules state it should cover the hips but be no longer than 3/4 down the thigh.

Off Topic: A few months ago, a male porn actor here in the LA area allegedly killed someone with a samurai sword. Police had him cornered on a cliff for a while. When they tased him, he jumped! I remember watching the news and seeing him up on the top of the cliff. I'm sure Googling would turn up stories and video if anyone is interested.

Tokaido, Shureido, and Hirota are all excellent quality gis, but they should be at their pricepoints. The Tokaido Ultimate runs a bit narrow, so it might not be the best fit for a stocky guy. It's much narrower than your Tokaido Kata Master and most other Tokaido models. Not sure which models are available to you in Australia. The Ultimate is not WKF approved, at least not in the US. It's available in standard cut and tournament cut. I'm not very familiar with Shureido's newer lines (New Wave), but the K-10 and KC-10 were cut pretty full, so they might be a good fit for you. When new, they have a nice, light bluish tint to them, a bit more subtle than the Tokaido Kata Master. The K-10 and KC-10 were also both available in standard cut and tournament cut, although I think the numbers then become TK-10 and TKC-10. I'm not that familiar with Hirota's line, and I haven't seen a Hirota gi up close in a while, but I think they ran small, so you'd probably have to order a larger size. I don't remember if they were proportionally narrow or not. I don't know if they have any models that were WKF approved, but I believe they used to sell some JKF approved items, so I suppose it's possible. Hope this helps!

My friend got back to me with a place in Burbank. They list a number of movies, TV, etc. that they've done work for. http://www.swordandstone.com/ I saw an aluminum broadsword on the site, but no samurai sword. That doesn't necessarily mean they don't do them. Sounds pricey to me, but I don't know for sure. Here's a quote from their "About" page.

Thank you, Patrick. It's been a pleasure to be here, and I know that's largely due to your administration AND your participation. Keep on keeping on!

Light weight prop swords? It's funny, but I've never thought about this! I've been in the martial arts business for decades, I grew up in Hollywood, worked for a company that published Martial Arts Movies magazine, and I even have a friend (who I've lost touch with) that's a prop master! We've even sold bo staffs and karate uniforms for film and TV use (My Name is Earl and Alias). Are you in the Los Angeles Area? I have another friend who works for a prop rental company, but I think they mostly deal in set dressing stuff. If I remember, next time I see him, I'll ask him if he knows anyone. Oh, I just thought of another friend who does props. I'll shoot him a quick message! I'll report back if I learn anything useful. Good luck with your project! I have a few friends (more acquaintances really) who have made indie films, and I know what a labor of love they can be, and what a headache, too! Wow! Crazy coincidence! I was just about to submit this, and I just now got a call from someone looking for a "wooden katana" for a movie! I love it when life throws things like this at me! I gave her details, but she didn't say whether she wanted it or not.

When I think of Bruce Lee, I think of Bruce Lee, the martial artist, but I can't imagine who he would be if he weren't also Bruce Lee, the actor. I voted martial artist because I'd guess that's how he saw himself.

Yeah, I've wondered too! Red auto paint tends to fade more easily than most colors. That would be awesome!!!! I'd love to see that. If I remember correctly, that's how Judo Gene Lebell started wearing pink gis. Not a belt, but something red got washed in with his gi. Now it's kinda his trademark.

That's confusing! You're saying the Blitz White Diamond is a Japanese tournament cut and the Blitz Japan is a European cut? Unless you have disproportionately long arms and legs, the length of the sleeves and pants are unusually short, even for tournament cut. Many tournaments wouldn't allow you to compete in that gi. I wonder if there was some kind of manufacturing error.

It's confusing. Apparently, Choki Motobu wasn't taught his royal family's style since he was the 3rd son, so he developed his own style. Chosei Motobu, Choki's son, learned and teaches both the style developed by his father and his family's style, which he learned from Seikichi Uehara who learned from Choki's brother, Choyu Motobu. Both styles have been called Motobu Ryu. The Motobu family's style is often called Motobu Udundi. Choki's style is sometimes called Motobu Ha.

[EDIT: Deleting partial sentence that should have been completely deleted.] IcemanSK is right. Silk belts fray rather than fade. The white or gray under the black cover will show more and more over time. I don't think I've ever seen a belt with no black left. How fast it wears compared to cotton is going to vary from brand to brand, but in general, yes, it is a lot faster. And I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it a false image. Some people just prefer the aged look. I think of it like someone who buys stonewashed jeans instead of deep indigo because they prefer the faded look. Some people like clean, while others like scruffy!

Here are a couple of groups in SoCal that I believe go by Motobu-ha. Some descriptions of their lineage can be found at their sites, mostly the 2nd one. The first is Te-Kenjutsu-Kan. They have dojos in Orange County and Los Angeles County, kinda far from San Diego. Here's a link to their group. http://te-kenjutsu-kan.com/ The second is in L.A. County only, as far as I know. They're the Kenjutsuryu Karate Federation. http://www.sirenwebdesign.com/SITE-kenjutsuryu/

All the belts we sell are all supposed to be colorfast and should never bleed color. Cheaper belts sometimes are not colorfast. Having said that, we have had complaints on occasion. Sometimes factories make mistakes. We try to catch and correct problems as soon as we can, but sometimes they slip past us. My point is, this can sometimes even happen with good quality belts. I have no real experience with belt washing, but I'd be careful washing a belt that isn't colorfast. One wash might get most of the dye out so it won't stain your gi, but won't it also make it fade? I've seen lots of drastically faded belts at tournaments, but I have no idea how many washings it took to get that way. The vinegar thing mentioned by ninjanurse sounds good. I've heard vinegar helps set the dye. Mostly, I've heard people use this for black uniforms, but I suppose it should work for belts, too. If a belt bleeds color, it will stain a white stripe, so I'd be careful with that. The bleach pen sounds like a great suggestion, but you'd have to be VERY careful. This should be obvious, but if you wash your belt, don't wash it in the same load as a white gi, especially if it's a dark color belt or if you suspect it will bleed.

If you want to do it, do it. You can keep yourself occupied and end up with something to show for it. I don't think you'd need to be famous to write an interesting book. If it's good, there could be a market for it. It could be the next "Eat, Pray, Love!" With today's print-on-demand publishing, you don't even need large production runs to sell a book. Besides, who says the memoir needs to be for the public. Maybe you could write it more for yourself and your family. Who knows, maybe 25 years from now, your grandchildren will read your memoir and say, "Like, Gramps was a totally tubular dude before he got all old and grody to the max!" (If 20 years from now, all the really cool kids use retro Valley Speak.)

Well, to me, level means perpendicular to the force of gravity, not parallel to the ground. If you're on the side of a hill, level doesn't mean level with respect to the hill. It doesn't really matter what shape the ground is. What I'm wondering is, if you're standing on the North Pole, which way is north? Straight up? Is every direction you can take a step, south? Is north and south only relative to the earth's surface? If so, I guess there is no north from the North Pole.

Hey! It's interactive! You can throw things around! Woohoo! Okay, I'm done now. It worked for me on this computer: Safari 4 on Mac OS 10.4.

I'm really surprised at the diversity of answers here! I didn't realize so many people used green below purple and blue. And we sell a lot of color belts with white or black stripes. I'm surprised more people didn't mention those. As a kid, 30-something years ago, I trained under Gene Lebell for 2 or 3 years and never got past white belt. Of course, at the time, he only gave... White Belt. Brown Belt. Black Belt.

All rattan escrima sticks eventually splinter or shred, it's just a question of how long it'll take. 8 years is pretty awesome, even with intermittent use. The good thing about rattan is that since it's actually a reed and not wood, it doesn't break as easily. To avoid splinters from your old sticks, you could try a little duct tape or some kind of racket or baseball bat grip tape. That might work on your slippery dowels, too. Sorry, I can't recommend a good source for sticks.

Yeah, we've been selling gis for a long time, but our experience with brands we don't carry is limited. Also, since we've been only wholesale until recently, we haven't had much interaction with the end user. That's one thing that senseis are much better at than we are, matching their students needs with what's available.

Great idea, isshinryu5toforever, and great post! I'll throw in a little info. I'll focus on karate as well, and I'll try not to repeat too much of what was already written. Much of what I say are my own personal observations or opinions and should not be taken as universal, especially my definitions. SPARRING (KUMITE) GIS Sparring or kumite gis don't really fit in the categories below, so I'm making a separate section. Isshinryu5toforever touched on this, but I'll elaborate. Kumite gis are generally light weight and loose fitting for freedom and speed of movement. They're usually constructed of poly/cotton and textured to give structure without adding much weight. Adidas uses Clima-Cool fabric with cooling vents. Tokaido and Tokon also have kumite gis. Kumite gis can be used as daily workout gis, but they tend to be pricey, so people usually use them for tournaments and special practices. Most people consider kumite gis to be too light for use in kata competition. WEIGHT OF MATERIAL Numerical weight is generally the actual weight per area of the fabric before cutting. It could be grams per square meter, or ounces per square yard, or even ounces per square meter. These figures are often approximate and will vary from brand to brand and sometimes from shipment to shipment. LIGHT WEIGHT - 5 to 7 oz. Beginning students will often start with this category, especially if their gi is included for free. Most will be poly/cotton but some will be 100% cotton. Quality of stitching is usually not very good, and the gis don't last very long. MEDIUM WEIGHT - 8 to 10 oz. These are for beginning students who want something a little nicer or intermediate students who want something on the light side. Quality can range from pretty bad to pretty good. HEAVY WEIGHT - 11 to 13 oz. Most intermediate to advanced karateka will choose something in this category. Quality usually ranges from good to excellent. Heavy weight gis tend to have better snap than lighter gis. SUPER HEAVY WEIGHT - 14 oz and up. Many people lump this category in with the heavy weight category. These are pretty heavy, and working out in them can get pretty hot. Most of our customers for gis in this category are long time senseis or sempai of traditional Japanese styles. Kenpo instructors like this weigh, too, but typically in black. TYPE OF MATERIAL POLY/COTTON VS COTTON - Most beginner uniforms are poly/cotton. P/C is easy to care for, and it's easier to fit a new student since it doesn't shrink much. 100% cotton is more popular in the heavier weights since it breathes better and absorbs more sweat. BRUSHED COTTON VS NON-BRUSHED COTTON - Brushed cotton is softer and smoother and most people find it more comfortable. A few people have said that brushed cotton sticks to them more when they sweat a lot, but not many. Many have said non-brushed material pops better, probably since it's a bit rougher and maybe stiffer. Durability shouldn't be much different, but brushing does damage the outer fibers, so non-brushed might be a little more durable. The difference is probably negligible, especially in heavier weights. CUT Cuts will vary from brand to brand and model to model. We classify gis as standard cut or tournament cut, but even within these categories, they'll vary quite a bit. TOURNAMENT CUT VS STANDARD CUT - Most gis are Standard Cut. In general, Tournament Cut gis have shorter sleeves and pants but their jackets are longer. They're typically used by traditional Japanese styles, but sometimes others will use them too. The long jackets enhance the low stances that Japanese styles tend to value. Many tournament organizations have rules on how short or long gi measurements can be, so keep this in mind when choosing your cut. NOTES ON THE ORIGINAL POST Isshinryu5toforever's post repeatedly refers to one brand's quality vs another. This might be possible in general, but quite often relative quality will vary from model to model within a brand. One company might have a great quality heavy weight but poor quality student gis. In our case, we have several heavy weight gis with varying levels of quality and pricing. PRO FORCE - I wanted to add that the Pro Force brand belongs to Asian World of Martial Arts (AWMA), one of the biggest martial arts supply companies in the US. TIGER - I'm not familiar with Tiger brand, and my half-hearted search didn't turn anything up. Could you mean Golden Tiger (GTMA) or Tiger Claw? KI - "Ki" is more correctly K.I. They're the initials of the founder. People call them ki, and maybe that's what the founder intended, but last I heard, they answer the phone Kay Eye. By the way, KI is the distributor of Toyo gis. Toyo gis are good quality gis made in Japan. I haven't checked the price lately, but they used to be one of the more reasonably priced gis from Japan. Mugen is another of KI's brand. Mugens are not made in Japan. TOKON - The Tokon name came about because someone else had the rights to the name Kamikaze in the US. I think the rest of the world uses the Kamikaze name. I've seen another brand in North America market themselves as a "Kamikaze upgrade", implying they're a Kamikaze brand, but they're not, at least not the Kamikaze most people think. TOKAIDO - Not all Tokaido products are made in Japan. Some are made in China under license by Tokaido Japan. They are excellent quality but much less expensive. Also, these Tokaido gis are generally cut more full as they're designed for non-Japanese markets. We were one of the first distributors in the world for these gis. We carry the Tokaido Kaminari and Tokaido Kumo in 12 oz and 14 oz. We also carry the Tokaido Ultimate, which is made in Japan. [Edited to remove the most ridiculously self-serving part of the post.]

I think Blitz is a European brand, maybe UK. I don't really know anything about them, but I remember others recommending them. Sorry I can't be more help.

Nisei Week is a week long celebration of Japanese culture. Actually, it's grown to much more than a week, but most activities still take place from this weekend through next. http://www.niseiweek.org/ This Sunday is the opening parade and next Sunday is the closing ceremony and ondo dance. The festival (food booths, games, etc.) is this Saturday and Sunday. The Taiko (drum) Gathering is Sunday, the 22nd. Martial arts demonstrations and events take place throughout the week. I don't have a schedule handy, but I think there's a sumo demo on Saturday, and last year on the opening Saturday, I saw a Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu demo in the Japanese Village in Little Tokyo. This Sunday, August 15th, is the Nikkei Games Budo Tournament. Judo, Kendo and Japanese Karate all compete on the same floor! (Not against each other.) It's on the floor of the Long Beach Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach. We (ASE Martial Arts Supply) have a booth there every year. Here's a link to info on the karate portion of the event. http://www.nikkeikarate.com/ If anyone is in the Los Angeles area, come out and join the festivities!