JohnASE

You might get better advice if you told us a little more about what you're looking for. Karate? Judo? A beginner gi? Your first heavy weight? What's expensive? $30, $50 or $100?

Personally, I'm not annoyed by BJJers. We have a few as customers, and they're a pretty decent group as a whole. Jean Jacques Machado is one of the nicest, most humble martial artists I know and obviously very skilled. Of course, we're primarily a wholesale business, so most of our dealings are with instructors, not the rank and file. What I hear is that BJJ and MMA attract a lot of... lets call them thugs. They're troublemakers looking to learn how to fight their way out of trouble that they create. Part of their troublemaking could be bashing other styles. As others have said, they're probably the minority, but they could be a vocal minority. Maybe it's this minority that annoys people. I guess I'm basically rephrasing what others have already said. As far as the "superior" martial art debate goes, I think there's no single answer, because it depends how you define things. Is the superior martial art the one that creates the best fighter, or the one that creates the greatest number of good fighters, or the one that maximizes its practitioners' happiness? Is it the one that enables you to quickly destroy your opponent, or the one that teaches the skills necessary to diffuse a threat without serious injury to either party? Which is a better war-one where you kill everyone on the other side, or one where the other side surrenders with few casualties? I had a customer once who was attacked by a guy with a crowbar. In response, he hit and kicked the guy in rapid succession. The guy's eyes rolled back in his head, and he dropped. His temple swelled like a baseball. My customer reacted the way he had been trained, and he reacted without thought. He decided his martial art was NOT superior. He won the encounter, but he was unhappy with the outcome. He switched to a style that he thought would teach him self-control and give him the option of controlling his opponent without causing so much damage.

Here are a few DVDs. We sell them, but I haven't put them all on our website. You can get them from a number of sources. Tsunami has better production quality than Rising Sun, but they're more expensive. The content is good on both. http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Shotokan/Pages/Shovideo.htm http://www.risingsunproductions.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_179_24_209&products_id=1475 I linked to the Kanazawa complete set, but they're available individually as well. Now, to plug my own merchandise, we import these DVDs from Japan. They're great, but they're very expensive. Because of the cost, we mostly sell them to senseis, but many students see the value in them too. This one is old footage of some of Shotokan's great senseis. http://www.asemartialarts.com/dvd--the-legend--the-strongest-karate-in-japan.html This one is a JKA all Japan championship. We have several years, but I'll link to the 50th Anniversary event of 2006. There are great examples of kata and kumite along with a few cultural exhibitions. http://www.asemartialarts.com/dvd--50th-jka-all-japan-championshi50.html Unfortunately, I see you're in England, and we don't sell outside the USA. I'm sure you can find sources that ship internationally, or probably in the UK for some of them. You might look for books or DVDs on Shotokan by fellow brit, Harry Cook. The first DVDs I linked to have commentary by him, but Tsunami also has a 4 DVD series on Shotokan specifically by him. I've heard mixed opinions on it but haven't seen it myself. His book, "Shotokan Karate: A Precise History", is very well liked but very hard to find. Oh, and it's expensive, too! Good luck!

I don't know what weird stuff I've eaten. The one time I went to Japan, I had all kinds of weird things, but there were so many, I didn't bother asking what most of them were! I know one was a whole (dead!) baby octopus. Didn't particularly care for it, but it wasn't too creepy. Most of what I had was pretty good, but I might not have enjoyed it as much if I knew what it was. I've never had sea urchin, but I've developed a taste for salmon egg sushi. Mostly, I eat the typical sushi-tuna, yellowtail, salmon. I was no stranger to Spam growing up-Spam and eggs, Spam fried rice, Spam musubi (Spam sushi), Spam sandwiches. I think it's a Japanese-American thing. Not sure if it's because so many Japanese-Americans came from Hawaii (Spam is big in HI), or if it has anything to do with Japanese-Americans going to "Camp" during WWII. I still have a Spam musubi every once in a while. As a city boy, game is strange to me. I've had elk and venison. Had to go to a fancy restaurant to get it! Not many places around here serve it. Oh, I had ostrich there, too! I'm sure there's weirder stuff, but I can't think of anything right now.

HSU has good quality stuff! We stock their judo gi (single weave white) and sell their 8 oz karate uniform when we run out of our own brand. We used to stock their black 15 oz, but it didn't move fast enough for us, so we only special order them now. I don't think either of these is brushed cotton though. Their 8 oz uniform is made with good material. The weave is fairly tight, so it's not rough, and it's fairly flexible. They used to be elastic waist only in the small sizes, but lately, they've been coming elastic in all sizes. If you don't want elastic, you might ask them what they have in stock. An 8 oz uniform is NOT a heavy weight or even close. The 15 oz uniform is nice, thick, and durable. Most of our customers for this uniform have been Kenpo black belts who want something heavy. I'm not sure how soft it is after washing. People used to say it was pretty stiff, but we've heard it might be a little lighter and more flexible than it used to be. Sometimes, the weight of uniforms will vary from shipment to shipment, even with reputable manufacturers. Our customers liked it the old way. I don't think any sizes are elastic waist, but you might want to confirm with them. HSU is a reputable company. I'm not sure what their customer service is like on the retail level, but they take good care of us.

Glad to help! I don't remember if I've seen their embroidery, but we've known them for decades, and they're sticklers for quality. The wife is from Japan, so, her Japanese is great! She's been in the US for a long time and lived in England before that, so her English is pretty good too, although her British/Japanese accent is... interesting. We distribute Tsunami videos, and I don't remember ever having one returned because of a defect. Well, maybe once, in the 15 years that we've carried them.

This is one of the most RIDICULOUS things I've ever read on any forum, and that's saying a lot! I can't believe he said that to you. He's wrong, of course, but it does say how he feels about your coming back. He could make your return unpleasant. What it comes down to though, is your relationship with your sensei. If you were happy with your sensei before and happy with the dojo, you probably will be again... eventually. If you have good friends at the Shotokan dojo, you might be happy there, too, but you might be burning a bridge with your Wado sensei. Some would take great offense at something like that. It's one thing to not be able to train. Rejecting your Wado dojo in favor of the Shotokan dojo could be a really big deal. I like your idea of giving Wado a chance. I'm not sure a month is enough time to get back on track, but it might give you enough time to see if things will work out in the long run. Good luck!

Instructional media sounds like a good idea-a book or DVD. It could be on teaching Shindokan or on running a dojo. But I say if you miss teaching, teach! Start a small program. Don't let it take up too much of your time, just a few hours a week or something. Giving private lessons would be okay, but I'd bet you want a dojo. If it's what you want, find a way!

If I understand your question correctly, here's an answer from someone who is NOT an expert. When you have a name in English and have it embroidered in Japanese, the embroiderer usually converts it to katakana (as opposed to hiragana or kanji). Katakana is phonetic, meaning the characters represent sounds, like in English. I believe katakana is primarily for foreign words. There isn't a one-to-one relationship between Japanese sounds and English sounds, so there's some art to translating. If you have a way you want it written, definitely send it to the embroiderer. If not, the translator will sound out the English word and find Japanese sounds that match as closely as he can. For those who care, hiragana is phonetic writing for Japanese words, and kanji is more pictographic, meaning the characters look like the thing the represent. For example, I think the kanji for river, kawa, is a set of three wavy lines that look something like a river. The word for forest, hayashi, looks like two trees. Being pictographic, kanji characters are typically more complex than hiragana and katakana characters. I suppose a persons name could be translated into kanji, but that's not how it's usually done. My wife's name, Linda, means something like "pretty one". There's probably a Japanese word that means pretty much the same thing and there might be a kanji for it. She could use it, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing this. Usually, people will just say it sounds like "Lee-nu-dah" or something and use the katakana for those sounds or whatever they think sounds closest. On the other hand, I suppose someone might translate Ohio River Karate Club using the kanji for River Karate Club and the katakana for Ohio. I hope this helps answer your question, or at least provides useful info for somebody.

We don't have a photo catalog, but we have a 12 page wholesale price list with some description. Message me here or email the address on our contact page to discuss details if you'd like a copy.

Thanks!

Thanks for the tip! My mom will love this. She makes sukiyaki with raw egg as a dipping sauce. She hasn't made it in forever and really misses it. I eat fries with chocolate Frosties from time to time, but never "in". I'll have to try that. It's close to my chocolate and potato chips thing. I often eat brownie ice cream and potato chips together.

My annoyance and distraction is more about my own perception. They didn't look nor sound Japanese to me, even when speaking English with a Japanese accent, or at least trying to. Then again, maybe I was fooled by my own expectations, knowing that they were Chinese. I don't remember particularly liking the movie, but I don't think the casting was a big part of that. And you're right. Many actors play characters from other cultures, and if they do it well, it's fine. I think Hugh Laurie on House plays an American very well, but haven't we all heard actors do bad Southern accents, or Brooklyn, or whatever. If Sir Anthony Hopkins were cast as Scarface, Tony Montana, it would take some serious acting and makeup to make it believable. Back on topic, assuming the lead characters in Air Bender were supposed to be from an Asian culture, I think using Asian actors would make it feel more real. Then again, it's a fantasy world! People can look however the creator wants. Well, when it comes to a movie, maybe the creator isn't the one in control. In any case, the movie was made the way someone wanted it to be. If they're right, and it makes more money this way, that's fine. If they're wrong, and it would've been better with Asian actors, I hope they learn this. I don't agree that people need to protest this movie, but if enough others do, their voices should be heard.

Most of the linked things don't sound that strange to me. As a kid, I put potato chips on tuna sandwiches, and used to always salt my watermelon. I think I was even served cayenne pepper and mango somewhere, and cheddar with apple pie. I didn't love the last two. One somewhat odd combo I eat is chocolate and potato chips (bite of chocolate, eat a chip). Now, any time I each chocolate, I crave potato chips. Wavy Lays work best for me. In Hawaii, I found a place that had potato chips crumbled into the chocolate, but the chip to chocolate ratio was way too low. I heard about a place on Hollywood Blvd that sold potato chips dipped in chocolate, but they closed before I got around to looking for them. Anyone ever eat tamago-gohan? It translates as egg-rice. What you do is beat an egg, spice it to taste (shoyu, salt, pepper, Mrs Dash, whatever), then pour it over hot rice and mix it together. The heat cooks the egg a little, but not much. Basically, you get rice covered with raw egg. I love it! Most people would hate the texture. I don't eat it anymore because of food poisoning scares. I should make some soon, just for the heck of it. Speaking of rice, chicken pot pie served over rice is great! This is especially good with the cheap ones that are mostly gravy. Gravy on rice is awesome! Too much crust and rice for not enough gravy can be a problem sometimes. It's funny, when thinking about what things might be good for this post, I think about what I eat that makes my wife cringe. That brings to mind the infamous Loco Moco. It's a Hawaiian dish. Hamburger patties on top of rice, covered with eggs (I prefer over easy, but scrambled is probably okay), all smothered with gravy. Yum!! Heart attach on a plate! Just thinking about this stuff makes me want to go exercise.

I heard it was good, but I'll probably wait until it hits Netflix to see it. What's the word? Good action and effects? Good story? I heard they tried to compact a lot of info from the series into too short of a movie. I also heard about the political stuff, but it didn't bother me too much. I'd like to hear from the producers or casting people about their reasons for casting the movie the way they did, but I assume they felt the movie would have greater appeal than if they had cast it another way. Were they wrong? They get paid lots of money to be right. Do their choices accurately reflect the reality of our society? I say Air Bender is just a blockbuster movie; it doesn't need to enlighten society. Let it just be entertaining. Leave changing the world to indie films (which I also watch). I found it annoying that Chinese actors were used in Memoirs of a Geisha, and I might have found it a little distracting while watching the movie, but I'm used to Asian actors playing other Asian nationalities. They've always done this. Partially, because some people don't care, but partially because there aren't that many Asian roles. It's tough for a Japanese-American actor to make a living only playing Japanese-American characters. Kenpo-stylist/actor/stuntman Bill Ryusaki has played Japanese characters, but he also played one of the Island tribe guys in Pirates of the Carribean and put on a pancho and sombrero or something like that to be a Mexican extra for Interview with a Vampire (IIRC). I guess when it comes down to it, with acting, you're always pretending to be something you're not. My perspective... I'm a 4th generation Japanese-American who grew up in Hollywood and is not in "The Business" but knows (or knew) a few people who are: actors, directors, producers, writers, etc.

Congrats on rejoining your family full time and good luck establishing your new path! I'm sure your hombu dojo students will miss you, but I imagine you're leaving them in good hands. Not knowing details, I'd guess the guilt or whatever you feel is likely unjustified. When you speak of the Kyuodan Dojo, are you talking about the one you mention in the other thread on Sherman Way near White Oak. You don't know if they're still around? Would you like me to look into it? I could run by there or make a couple of quick inquiries. If they're gone, I have some customers in that area that might know something. I see Cecil Peoples 2 or 3 times per week. He's teaching out of the House of Champions these days, on Saticoy near Louise.

Thanks for the great review! Nice detail and consistent with what I've heard. I'm not that familiar with the Sovereign. I should be, since we distribute Tokon gis, but we don't stock that one. Maybe I should give it a closer look. You didn't mention that the Europa is also available in half sizes. Dynamic is full sizes only. Just curious, did you find the fit of the Europa to be similar to the fit of the Sovereign and did you get size 6.5 in both? As a sparring gi, I assume the Dynamic would fit more loosely. Did you go with a size 6 or 7, and how did it fit? Did you alter (hem) any of the gis? Finally, please don't take offense and feel free to ignore this, but what is your height and weight? Thanks again!

Gis from Ronin and KI should be pretty comparable in quality. Other than that, I don't know much. I'm not that familiar with differences between models. A 16 oz heavy weight from one might be better quality than a 12 oz heavy from the other. KIs Mugen line is probably better quality than their standard heavy weight. I doubt Mugens are available in black though. Ronin and KI usually have a pretty roomy fit, but I'm not familiar with Sun Pro, so I don't know how they compare. My experience is that drawstring waist pants tend to have roomier fits than elastic waist. I'm not very familiar with Proforce gis. Proforce is AWMA's brand. All 3 companies have been in business for a long time. Sorry I can't be more help.

Thanks for asking. Sorry if we're taking this too off topic. We're a small martial art supply company that's been in business for about 18 years. We're in the Los Angeles area but sell all over the country. We dabble in retail, but sell mostly to schools and a few stores. We import much of our inventory, but we buy a lot domestically, too. Our own ASE brand merchandise includes uniforms, belts, and some sparring gear. Off the top of my head, we also sell Macho, GTMA, Best, AWMA, Adidas, Tokon, Tokaido, and Tiger Claw, of course. We don't try to have everything for everyone, but we try to have most of the things people need most often. If we don't have something, we'll special order it for our wholesale customers. I set up a retail website (link in signature), but all I have listed so far are DVDs from Japan. It's one of our most exclusive lines. My plan is to put up some uniforms next. I don't plan on offering our entire inventory and all our services on a retail level, so we might need to set up a separate wholesale site. Future project.

Wow, old thread resurrected. Spreading info is a good thing, so I'll throw in my 2 cents. I'll try not to make this all about ASE Martial Arts Supply, but that's mostly what I know. There are a LOT of companies that embroider belts. Many will only embroider their new belts in case something goes wrong. We embroider our own ASE brand belts and Tokaido belts. Actually, we job it out. It's hard for me to say how good we are because I don't have much experience with other companies' products. We have plenty of happy customers. One thing I've learned is that personal preference plays a big part in what looks good and what doesn't. THROUGH THE BELT Most embroidery goes through the belt and shows reversed on the back. It's not ideal, but it's cost effective. If it's in Japanese, some people don't care because they can't read it anyway. We have a service available that few others offer. The embroidery goes through the belt, but we use black thread on the back! There are still reversed characters, but they match the belt color, so it's not as noticeable, at least from a little distance. We don't charge extra for this. You can't do this on a standard embroidery machine. It's not computerized, so the characters aren't perfect. It looks more like hand writing than a printed font. Some companies will split open a belt, embroider the cover, and stitch it back together. This way, the back side of the embroidery is inside the belt and not visible. Usually, the entire belt isn't opened, just the ends. Some stitching overlap can be seen where the old stitching meets the new stitching. Not a big deal, but not perfect. Since the characters are embroidered before the belt is stitched back together, lines go across the characters. There's a lot of labor for this, so it can get pricey, and might take a long time. A few companies will have embroidery done at the factory before the belt is stitched in the first place. It's just like opening the belt, but without the overlap I talked about. I think this is the ideal way to do it, IF you don't mind the lines of stitching running through the characters. Usually, this takes the longest to have done if they have to ship it from overseas and can be pretty expensive. We don't offer this service. NON-MA EMBROIDERERS Finding one with tough enough needles isn't easy. We have one that we use. He embroiders on some belts and uniforms. We also have a martial art embroiderer with tough needles that break on some of our hardest belts, so you never know. Oh, and local guys might not be able to do Asian characters unless you provide the artwork or might charge a lot. MA embroiderers will often have translation available. BRANDS/COMPANIES We sell embroidered Tokaido belts, but we have them embroidered here. Most companies will do it this way. I think Shureido USA has theirs embroidered in by Shureido in Okinawa before being constructed. I don't know of anyone who imports Hirota belts to the US, but they're a premium quality company in Japan. Everyone says great things about Eosin Panther. Don't know about Kataaro. We've done a lot of business with Best and Golden Tiger for almost 2 decades. They're both reputable companies, but I'm not familiar with their embroidery programs.

Ask your sensei or see what other students have. Shotakan dojos used to mostly use cloth hand pads for sparring, but many are moving to vinyl karate mitts like the ones used by the WKF and AAU Karate. Some Shotokan will use dipped foam as used in open tournaments (NASKA, NBL). None of these will be particularly suited to bag work, at least not for long.

Interesting point. I'm in California, so I've never dealt with the Tennessee facility. It hadn't occurred to me that things might be vastly different. Sales team turnover in CA isn't bad. They have, on occasion, backordered something and not told us, but our orders are large enough that we have other things that arrive in a couple days with the backorder noted on the invoice. We've never been left hanging with no contact. Thanks for mentioning this. My wife keeps telling me we should make this a priority. Our business is almost all to instructors, so I know she's right, but there are so many other projects in the works. I'll keep this in mind though.

This thread is a little old, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway. I can see why you might be concerned that NKS might be a McDojo. They have a bunch of locations, and their website seems pretty slick. I wouldn't assume anything without checking them out. They look pretty successful, so a lot of people must think NKS is right for them. I'm not sure it's right for you though. You say you're interested in Japanese tradition. The head instructor lists NASKA and NBL competition among his credentials. I could be stereotyping incorrectly here, but the more traditional dojos tend to shy away from open competitions like these. NASKA and NBL events have all kinds of non-Japanese styles involved. The more traditional dojos typically stick to the traditional Japanese competition circuits if they compete at all. Traditional Japanese events tend to be more formal and structured. Judging tends to be more consistent with what they're teaching. Again, even if I'm right about tendencies, you don't know for sure unless you check them out. Oh, and like you, I couldn't determine for sure what style NKS teaches. It seems to be a Japanese style of some kind since they use Japanese titles. The head instructor wrote a book on Shotokan, but researched and edited a book on Okinawan arts. My guess would be that he teaches a version of Shotokan karate with a mix of Okinawan kobudo (weapons). I guess I didn't really add much. Everyone else had it right. Check them out in person. See if it's what you want.

I used to hang out with my ex-girlfriend and her sensei outside the dojo all the time. She ALWAYS called him sensei. It was kinda weird when it came to introducing him though. One time, we went to play beach volleyball with my friends, and she introduced him as her sensei, but he said to call him Eddie! It's hard to describe how awkward that felt, and he wasn't even my sensei. Of course, on top of that, I knew him by his given Japanese first name. I don't even know if Eddie was a nickname or his middle name. Oh, on a related topic, when greeting him, my ex would not only call him "sensei", but she would bow and say "Oss". That must've looked odd to people in the TGI Friday's parking lot. I think I just shook his hand. What do most of you do outside the dojo?

Most embroidery is stitched all the way through the belt. It shows correctly on the front side and reversed on the back side. Every once in a long while, an embroiderer will flip it by mistake. I'd guess it's just flipped in your pic. "Karen Marks" doesn't sound like the name of a 15 year old boy. Maybe your son's belt got switched with someone else's. This happens all too frequently. Or maybe your son's name just sounds similar. Translating Western names into katakana isn't exact. From the little piece of the label I can see, I'd guess it's a Tokaido belt, not a "regular" GTMA belt. In case you're not familiar with it, Tokaido is a premium brand. The logo looks like it might be the JKA logo, and I'm pretty sure most JKA belts in the USA are Tokaido brand. If so, it should say Tokaido lower on the label. Oh, and GTMA does sell Tokaido belts.