kanku123

Yes it does get harder with the advancing years. I personally have struggled with plantar faciitis for years since tournament days. Many a doctor had said not to do anything barefoot. yeah right. But i feel it is essential to continue teaching and helping even when the body starts the decline. The hardest thing to get over was the ego of not being able to do that great technique anymore. You came up through the ranks not asking for anything that you could not do also. My last dan promotion I was seriously thinking of letting it past. How I would want to perform would not be possible in the pain I feel after an hour on the floor. However after some strong persuasion from my shihan I did it. Glad I did now.

Hello all. Have read with interest the posts here from the outside. I thought it was about time I get more involved. I remember many years ago a visiting sensei talked about the black belt and how it was actually the beginning of true karate practice. I remember thinking to myself as a yellow belt, "what is he talking about?" Years and experience gives you a different perspective (hopefully) and there are so many things both physically and mentally that I only began to grasp at shodan. I feel however that some black belts some time feel a little bored when they look to nidan many years down the line. For like many other schools in our dojo it is not automatic that you go up for promotion, the sensei has to recomend you. Some also simply had been training for the wrong reason. The rank shouldn't be the goal, bettering self should be.