Shizentai

You beat me to it. My thoughts exactly. I only have a meager understanding of the concept, just enough to know that I am still in the shu phase of my life, but I immediately thought of "ha" and "ri" when I read your post. I wish you the best with your journey. -Shizentai

Not for me! I pretty much always pee blood! PKD FTW! Lol! On a more serious note, did she say she saw blood? If it's enough to see, that's actually quite a bit. Seeing a doctor is a good idea just in case, especially if the symptom persists. I wouldn't blame yourself though. She might have some delicate condition she didn't know about that makes her more susceptible to kidney rupture (like myself).

I like that story. It is universally understandable I think. I feel like many martial artists must feel a similar sentiment. When I took my nidan exam last year I was certain that I had failed when in the first three seconds of the kumite portion I began having an asthma attack in response to my opponent (who was twice my size) glancing a partially deflected gyaku-zuki off my solar plexus. The match stopped. I tried for about thirty seconds to breathe to no avail. I squeaked and growled and spit but nothing helped. My senpai reffing the match shouted "Yame yame! Sit down," but I knew that if I did, everyone around me would not blink an eye. I am small, weak, and had only been training half the time of my opponent. It would only be logical if I gave up. So naturally I did the opposite and refused to sit. Then, just as my vision got kind-of funny and the doctors started running at me I somehow took the deepest most painful breath I've ever taken in my life. At that moment I didn't care about my rank or winning anymore. I was shaking all over and I was so happy to be exactly where I was, in front of my sensei and everyone else, ready to show what an absolute nothing like me can be taught through karate. I wanted to show them, no, I wanted to find out what I could do with nothing left but spirit. So I did. The rest is history.

I think it's really interesting that the majority of karateka on this forums test differently than we do in my dojo. I can definitely see the benefit of waiting to test a student until that pupil is 100% ready. At the same time, I think that learning to recognize for myself how well I am training for the next rank is also useful information. In addition, I think that failing a test can instill humility in a pupil. At least it did for me.

1. No, but my sensei told me that I only barely passed my shodan exam. 2. Yes, a few times actually. It was 4th and 3rd kyu I struggled with the most. I just couldn't get the hang of Tekki shodan. To solve the problem, I went on a training voyage in Japan between my junior and senior year in high school. When I returned I tested again, having been six months since my last attempt, and I finally reached 2nd kyu. 3. I actually only know one person my dojo that has never failed a test, and she is a beginner lol! I am not an examiner, which sounds like what you meant, but I do instruct the kids' class sometimes. In the last dan exam that was administered in my region about 25 people tested and 3 passed shodan (one of which was our kid! Hooray!) and all failed nidan and above.

Lately I like to use inside mikazuki geri as if it were a jab when I am fighting an opponent with a much longer reach than mine who has no frontal openings. That is to say, when a tall person who tends to face more sideways crowds me a little shorter than my desired kicking distance, I first do a snappy chudan inside mikazukigeri with my front foot to get him startled and moving back a bit. From there I can switch to mawashigeri jodan with the opposite leg, or if he has faced forward I can do a strong frontkick with the opposite leg, or if he makes a full step back switching legs, I can sweep him off balance and take him down more easily. This is just something I've been doing lately though. It's only because my right mikazuki is very compact and unusual kicks are more confusing for an opponent.

I am the smallest person in the adult class at my dojo. One time my senpai and I were engaged in some medium contact free sparing when she suddenly grabbed my lapel with just her right hand, slammed me against a nearby wall and lifted me off the ground. I know I was supposed to fight back at that point, but I was too busy laughing at my sad dangling feet. I mean, I know I'm puny, but really!? One hand?

Hi Shizentai, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it correct nomenclature - in Japanese martial arts - to use the term "sensei" after the instructors family name, if they are Japanese. However if they are not Japanese the "Sensei" comes first. So, Sensei Bob (well I guess really Bob's surname) is correct, where as it is Funakoshi sensei - if you are Japanese? I don't think there is one set of rules every martial artist in the universe must follow, no. Forgive me if I sounded like I was implying there was. However, if your last name is "Williams" and you teach in Japan, people will call you "Williams Sensei," not "Sensei Williams." If you are in the states, well, you get called whatever you want to get called (as you will easily see in the rest of this thread). When I was writing about "Bob sensei," (which I did while half-asleep to be fair), I admittedly let my southern side show a little bit. I am from very far south and we often call people by their first names, even teachers (ex: "Mrs. Anne"). Also, we pronounce "Mrs." and "Miss." exactly the same (like you probably say "Miss."). I don't actually know anyone I call "Bob sensei" though. "Bob" was meant more as a variable than an actual example. But yes, for Japanese people I do use their Surnames. For people from southern Louisiana like myself, I use their given names. For other Americans and/or other people who would prefer I use their surnames, I gladly accommodate them as well. I think that's really the key here. Well that's definitely how we use it here I'd say, but In Japan I visited three different regional headquarter dojos in which even little kids called the head instructor just "Shihan," even while training, even while asking to go to the bathroom during training. I was surprised at first myself.

This is a very good point; and one that is almost always true of anyone who trains in a way as "alive" as kyokushin. That is, when you must always prove your skill, every day, there isn't room for ego or false beliefs about your skill. It forces you to see the truth. Those who can't, don't last.Oh boy do I know what you mean right now! I misjudged the timing of my senpai's attack last night and got punched in the face with everyone watching only us at the time. =_= mmmmm, modesty is a dish often served with a side of black eye.

First of all, I don't think she has learned the rules of respect yet. Respect is something you must earn, not inherit, not rank into, not demand. If you feel like you are being disrespected (even though in this case she wasn't being disrespected by you imo), instead of complaining about it, rise to the challenge and do your best to perform admirably! As for her opinion that lower ranks can't correct higher ranks in general, well, my sensei is a 9th dan, and has been training for over 60 years. He tells us that there are valuable things he learns from 8kyu students all the time. In his words "Without exception, we all have something to teach each other."

I use "senpai" and "sensei" as suffixes. I suppose it's because I was training in Japan as a lower rank, but "Sensei Bob" sounds funny; "Bob sensei" sounds much better to my ear. Even though the rest of JKA calls him "Shihan," my instructor asks us to just call him "Mikami sensei." He likes to treat people all as equals, and seems to be less concerned with acting aloof than one would expect from someone in his position. I respect that a lot.

She was quite an odd one, but she never came back, so I may never know what her beef was exactly.

In our system, that's correct. Kohai is any colored belt. 1st and 2nd dan are Sempai. You don't become a Sensei until 3rd dan. That's the formalities at least. Realistically, it's just a title. That's interesting. I've never heard it used with exact ranks before. Roughly translated, in Japanese "kohai" means "underclassman" and "senpai" means "upperclassman." Basically (in Japan mind you), anyone who has less experience than you (i.e. started a year or month or even a day after you did) is your kohai. Meanwhile, anyone who started before you is your senpai. In Japan these terms are not only used in karate, but also in school, the workplace, sports teams, etc. Most people trainig karate in the states, however, changed these terms to mean "someone lower rank than I am" or "someone higher rank than I am" respectively. Many think that this switch occured when karate reached the west because in our culture, ability is more valued than seniority. I am on the fense myself, but being that I am young, I favor the Japanese "senpai" more because it pays better respect to those from whom I have gleaned valuable insights. sorry for being off topic.... As for challenging dojos, I was subing a class at my college club some years ago, when a girl came in claiming to be an international champion and san-dan in another organization. First of all, the head of her organization and my sensei were college roommates, which, when I told her, she refused to believe, and secondly, she kept interrupting and saying stuff to my students for some reason, even though she said she just wanted to watch. Then she up and says "I want to challenge someone to kumite" to which I responded "Okay, how about me?" ....but for some reason she picked a greenbelt instead. I told her "You need a waver to spar in this class. Would you like to fill one out?" and she shut up for a while, but apparently my greenbelt friend decided to spar her anyway after class was over and lost =_= It was just really silly. The whole thing was just uninteresting.

I grew up in a culture where we greet eachother by kissing. My dojo mates should feel lucky that a hug is all they get. Since I know I am comfortable about those sorts of things I generally let the other person initiate any hugging though.

Most Competitions are regulated by governing bodies such as the JKA, JKF, WKO, WKA and WUKO etc. It does stipulate the use of mats etc in the terms and conditions of their Kumite Rules including sizes etc. Also I believe that it is a general requirement from an insurance point of view that mats of some discription are used. We are JKA, but we don't use mats for our regional qualifiers such as below: It works out fine, the only real problem is due to the floors already being striped, it can be difficult to find the edge of the ring at times. For that reason, I think most of JKA favors either wooden floors or this white/blue/white mat for their big competitions, national and international:

I know how you feel. I am a small nerdy stuttering female. Karate aside, when I am simply walking down the street most people don't take me too seriously, even other women sometimes. This has advantages and disadvantages. However, in the dojo things are simple for me. If a man is going too easy on me, I can just make him be serious by kicking him in the gut until he figures out that I am not a dainty flower and starts to defend himself properly. If I think he is going too hard on me, well, I just have to give it my 100% effort and hope I don't get hurt... which so far I haven't. I have to wonder if those "don't-hit-so-hard" girls are just afraid of the unknown. That sink or swim moment where in training you have to choose between giving up and pushing on past your previous comfort zone is the defining moment for many a karate-ka in their own way.

I honestly wouldn't change a thing from the way my dojo is now. ...well on second thought, I might put showers in the changing rooms, and would have a set of judo/aikido mats available in the closet. I feel that it is less than safe to teach little kids and elderly people how to fall on hard wood, even if that's the way I learned myself.

Welcome! I am like you. When I started training a little over ten years ago now, I was the only awkward not-kid not-adult in the dojo. At age 15 I actually remember being the only yellow belt training. All of these brown and black belts of all ages were looking at me and correcting me constantly. It was very difficult to keep up at first. It was so frustrating that I actually cried a little once in mid-heian sandan Anyway, for whatever reason, despite being smaller, sicklier, and less talented than the others in my class I didn't quit. You know what the odd part is? Most of the people in my class that I thought had the best talent for karate quit training after just a year or two! Now that I look back, I realize how fortunate I was to have those setbacks. A person who does things naturally well, without working hard, has no idea what to do when they wake up on the wrong side of the bed one morning and their magic is gone. Now people like you and I and most of the rest of the world, we gain what people might mistake as 'talent' by forging ourselves in the fires of hard work and determination in the face of our own short-comings. It is a much longer process, but that is a weapon much harder to disarm.

Well, I've never really had to engage in a full-on street fight before. However I have "used techniques" that I learned in training to keep myself out of them, which is in my opinion, all too often understated. 1. Run the heck away - When it's just me that I am worried about protecting, often getting the heck out of there is the best defense. I was inspired by kata like enpi and kanku sho/dai to practice a lot of running and knee-tuck jumping over tall and wide objects. I have become comfortable gauging exactly what I can and cannot clear, where as an assailant is often not. At least three times I have run away from would-be muggers in a rough part of town late at night. 2. Talking people out of it - As a kid I didn't have the confidence to do this, but now that I have a backup plan I am much more at ease in this sort of situation. I was attending an out-of-town karate tournament when a man came up to me and my friends with a knife and asked for our money. I just stood there and talked to him politely about his financial situation, and then about my own while shaking out an empty wallet (that I always carry with me). He not only apologized. He actually gave me a can of cola he had in his pocket. TRUE STORY! 3. Rolling and break-falling - Twice now I have been struck by a hit-and-run car while riding my bike. Both times it was my method of falling that I learned in karate class that literally saved my skin. 4. Being creepy (okay, so this one I didn't really learn in training! lol!) - Earlier this year someone tried to break into my apartment via the back door. I awoke when I heard the sound, picked up one of my tonfa and used it to tap on the adjacent window with an accompanied slow but disapproving finger wag. He ran. Another time when I was a freshmen in college I saw a man trying to take my bike outside of a taco bell. I just walked out there silently and stared daggers at him with no words until he eventually got creeped out and and went away (I was SO glad that he gave up easily, since I REALLY wan't planning to fight over a stupid bike). All in all, no real problems. Fighting for me is the last resort, so other than responding to some uninvited playful roughhousing with gentle blocks or joint locks here and there over the years, no, I've never found a real need to use the fighting techniques I've learned as of yet.

This is very true. As I said, these were not intended to be portraits. I was more concerned with capturing their techniques than their faces, so I'm pretty sure it'd be near to impossible to identify them. That said, I couldn't just steal their waza and not tell you who they are, so I felt obligated to name them none the less. I didn't really think about that until after I pained them though.

Takahara Peichin (1683-1766) Sakugawa Satunushi (1733-1815) Matsumura Sōkon (1809-1901) Ankō Itosu (1831-1915) & Ankō Asato (1827-1906) Funakoshi Gichin (1868-1957) - Founder of Shotokan karate Nakayama Masatoshi (1913-1987) - Founder of Japan Karate Association Mikami Takayuki (1933-Present) - First JKA Instructor Training Graduate Me I don't even know how to go about fact checking this. lol! I have documents that show Nakayama sensei guest instructing at our dojo in the 70s and 80s. Does that count? The rest (aside from curious birth and death date discrepancies) is pretty much consensus in every history book I can find.

Thanks! I did have to wonder if the kicking person in the photo I referenced was really Ozawa sensei though. In every photo I've seen of him as an older man, he has wavy hair. Ah well.

Every now and again I get into an ink-painting mood. The other day I was going through my old karate books and I got inspired by a series of old, high-contrast black and white photos of karate-ka training. Therefore, I sat down and painted Kanazawa (http://mari-3.deviantart.com/#/d4enqlr) and Ozawa (http://mari-3.deviantart.com/#/d4e3efn). I apologize for my sloppiness. These were only done in about 5 minutes each (as is the case for most of my ink paintings). I mostly wanted to post this on Karate Forums somewhere because unlike my family and art friends, you guys might actually know who these masters are. Not that they're portraits or anything. I have absolutely no idea which forum this should be in, so anyone please feel free to move it.

When I was in high school I did something similar with my friends. Boxing, kickboxing, aikido, karate, kung fu. All in all it was a very rewarding endeavor. The only problems we had were with the HUGE variations in what constitutes "free sparing" in each of our different styles, and also what is considered an "illegal move." Therefore, I would recommend talking to your members about their expectations while forming the rules of your matches. If you plan to include people from heavy-hitting martial arts, then the amount of contact (low medium or high) should be established and made clear in the very least at the beginning of each match. Speaking from experience, nothing stinks more than to stop millimeters before punching your opponent in the nose, just to have him put his fist through yours two seconds later.

Funny you should mention. He walked into my workplace the other day. Nice guy, nice family. In other news, every single lyric from "white and nerdy" can either be applied to my dad or myself.