Shizentai

What in the world is Beikoku Bushido ??? "American Way of the Warrior" hmm... cool name.

Am I the only one here that finds this statement a little odd?

I know this was meant as a hooray for karate, but it still makes me really sad how unequal academia is. ;_; Go female entomologists!

for a while some people called me "danger girl" It's not what you'd think though. See, when I started training ten years ago I was REALLY clumsy. I mean like you wouldn't believe. I walked into the dojo on my first day and accidentally turned over an entire 500lb weight rack while everyone was in seiza. I head-butted my senpai in the face exiting the ladies restroom. If I was carrying food, it went everywhere. Basically, everywhere I went I caused accidental chaos in my wake. I was also called "The Entertainment" but I somehow don't think that qualifies as a real nickname. No one else really got a nickname in the dojo except for that one kid who seriously looked like a young Ralph Macchio, and accidentally called our Japanese instructor "Sensei Miyagi" once. He was affectionately known as "Daniel-san" after that point in time.

What!? I leave the computer for a month and the most awesome thread topic ever appears!?! It's nice to see that there are so many other female karate-ka on these forums! There are many strong women in the dojo where I train today, but I've also trained in places where I was the only woman as well. I have to admit that I enjoy both training environments. Each has its benefits for a female karate-ka in my opinion. On the note of dating other martial artists, it never worked out for me. They always tried to compete over something silly like pushups or situps or ranks and I'm not really into that kind of thinking. My current boyfriend is not a martial artist at all (though I did meet him kind-of indirectly because of karate) and he's perfect for me I think. The best person in the world.

well, technically speaking, the word "do" (道) as in "Karate-do" means "the way," which is why it is often used as a suffix for Japanese or Okinawan martial art styles/organizations. "Jutsu" (術) has two common meanings in Japanese martial arts. One is "technique(s)" so if someone was talking about their "Karate-jutsu," they may have been referring to their individual moves, not a style per-se. However, the other meaning of "jutsu" (術) is "art" such as in "bijutsukan" (美術館) which is Japanese for "art museum." For that reason, some martial arts organizations founded in more modern times have adopted this suffix "-jutsu" in lieu of "do." This explains the examples you gave: Jujutsu, Kenjutsu, and aikijujutsu. Some karate styles/organizations founded in more modern times have opted to use this suffix as well to distinguish themselves from other styles/organizations, while still maintaining the root "karate" to explain thier lineage. Some examples I found of this with explanations in thier links are as follows: Kuma-Ryu Karate-Jutsu, Karate Jutsu Association. Sorry I can't say more on the differences in training themselves, I have no personal experience there. ^_^'

So what are your favorite demo videos of all time? Please share! Here are some of mine (biased though they are towards the style I train): Mikami

heh heh Even though it's not customary in my dojo to have surprise tests, I ended up waking my roommate this morning from a dead sleep 20 min before a belt test she didn't know she was taking because my senpai called the house inquiring about her. ...I'm kind of amazed that we were able to get to the dojo so fast. She passed her eighth kyu test with flying colors by the way. (Insert a proud smiley here ) now is sushi celebration time

=_= I'm jealous of you guys. The closest I've come to that feeling is having my sensei register me for a camp and ask my rank, then exclaim "Oh really! Still!?" ...sadly, even when given permission to test, I still have to be the one to make the decision to do so, then inevitably undergo the gauntlet of all my senpai critiquing everything I do and pounding on me for a year. There is something strangely masochistic about it. lol Even though being told I'm testing immediately beforehand would make things easier, I don't think that it's a good idea for me at this point. After all, a new rank is a new responsibility. Having the decision to accept responsibility made for you is very different from seeking it for yourself.

Personally, I think more often not enough attention is paid to Kihon. If a person has sloppy basics, then their kata and kumite are going to be sloppy as well.

We have a hard wood floor in almost every place where I've trained. I have been thrown and taken down on wood floors many times over the years, but I was not injured. In fact, I find training on a hard wood floor to be a really good motivation to fall correctly.

I know exactly what you mean. A lot of people get into a habit of only attacking with no defense during kumite, even very advanced ranks. Do keep in mind, however, that a good defense and a block from basics are not necessarily the same thing. Avoiding an attack with good distance and timing often negates the need for a block with the arm. Still, it is good to use blocks to set up for an attack as you pointed out. To train this, sometimes I like to do a ten-minute drill in which I have a friend of mine (with good control) attack me using any techniques, to which I am only allowed to avoid or block. Then I repeat the drill but with defense and counter attack. Just to be clear, I'm not saying the is the way you should train or anything, I just find that the best way to work on defense is... well... to focus on training defense.

For us, the big sensei and local instructors sit behind the table with papers. Students perform kata, kihon and kumite (three step & one step for ranks below 3rd kyu). Usually parents and friends pile in and form a cluttered crowd. The funny thing to me is how much it varies from dojo to dojo in terms of result reporting among our organization. Many sensei will hold the result until the next class, or even do some sort of ceremony, but at our regional headquarters you can kinda just hang around after the test and someone who works in the office will tell you, then if it is required you can go to the closet and grab a new belt for yourself.

Though I'm generally the person with the least kata learned in my dojo, I've been striving to add a few more (marked with "*") to my list lately. taikyoku shodan* (lol, I've been training ten years and I just learned this one last month so as to assist in teaching it to a four-year-old) heian shodan heian nidan heian sandan heian yondan heian godan tekki shodan tekki nidan bassai dai enpi jion kanku dai kanku sho wankan* jiin* sochin** unsu** bassai sho** **ones that I'm still pretty terrible at =_= I'm really liking wankan a lot though. It's very... concise.

This is so true! Though being a southerner I see the situation more like this: In the north people speak more formally on a whole, but don't say sir or mam for some odd reason. Meanwhile, in the south (or at least in my corner of it) people will call you "sir" or "mam" and then proceed to talk to you, or anyone else in the same manner as they would a close family member. It's kinda backwards and strange. o_o oh right... also, I call my sensei "name + sensei" outside of the dojo. This is because I have trained with a good number of different instructors over the years, many of whom know each other, and it's better to clarify one from another when, say we're all out together.

To tell you the truth, I think the fact that he's not Japanese makes him even more awesome. Asian martial arts stars are a dime a dozen. Chuck Norris is awesome because not only is he a martial arts god, he's also a straight up Texas gunslinging god. And when he roundkicks you, it's not in barefeet, it's with cowboy boots on. Back in the day apparently Chuck Norris came to compete in a tournament that my sensei has put on for the past few decades. He didn't win, but he did well. Years later my friends and I were talking about Bruce Lee after training. Sensei walks past us and says, "Meh, Bruce Lee is good actor.... Chuck Norris is good fighter." lol!

My sensei is easy to please. He loves chocolates and antiques. One year I also threw a tea bowl set for him. He's one of those amazing sorts of people who never expects anything in return though.

You know, having had an instructor who was himself born and trained in Japan, I'm sure my opinion is biased. However, I don't really care what people think of how my skin color reflects my karate. I mean hey, I'm already a 110lb tiny woman with thick glasses who still gets mistaken for a pre-teen on a regular basis. On my uniform I wear no patches, on my belt no stripes, no embroidery anywhere. No one is ever going to expect great things of me based on superficial appearances, with or without my mostly Caucasian features. ...and frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. When people underestimate you, it's easier to prove them wrong. Personally, I don't need pride, I don't care about a pecking order, and I certainly don't want a superficially won reverence from those that I teach. I think that karate transcends all of these things, even if beginners' minds do not. Give them time and I'm sure they'll come around.

I'm not exactly terrific at kata, but right now I really like kanku sho The timing feels so natural!

In my dojo as well, we basically yell whatever. However, considering the decent number of native Japanese speakers who also train there, I shy away from words like: "kiai" (because yelling "YELL!" is strange) "hai" (because yelling "YES!" is also a bit odd) "ai" (because while screaming "LOVE!" is freakin awesome, it makes me giggle at myself just a little) "sei" (.....I'll just leave this explanation out >_>....) "saa" (because it seems like I'm yelling "Come now!!" or "Look at that!!" rudely to my sensei)

In JKA dojo I have only seen white, though there is sometimes a single breast patch denoting the dojo name. I think that the definition of "tradional shotokan" may vary a lot though, making your question rather difficult to answer.

I don't know where I'd be without karate for sure, but I can definitely tell you where I wouldn't be. Without karate I would have never... been able to exercise or sing for more than an hour without passing out developed enough muscle strength to run without twisting my ankles had the confidence to talk a man out of mugging me been able to attend college after a hurricane destroyed my city learned a second language studied art in another country met the man I love (and no, he is not a karateka) written comic books that got some awards and stuff If I had to guess, I think I'd probably be still trying to graduate from college, possibly with my legs in braces and on many pain killers

something I have found remarkably effective is just doing your regular kata or kihon training with weights outside of class. I've never been to a gym in my life, but I am the only woman I know with an eight-pack.

At the time, my pediatrician just chalked it up to being small and underweight. Being a kid, I accepted the explanation (after all, he was a doctor). As an adult though, I learned that my body doesn't absorb iron properly, resulting in iron deficiency anemia. This causes chronic low blood pressure, fatigue, weakness and sometimes loss of consciousness. It's easy enough to treat with large amounts of iron supplements though. So yeah my health has been a lot more enjoyable these past few years. All I can figure is that exercise increased my blood pressure and oxygen intake, and thus helped circulate oxygen through my body, temporarily relieving my symptoms... though I do study bugs, not people, so take that with a grain of salt. lol

I used to be afraid of passing out in karate actually. I don't know why, but around age 9 to 14 I would randomly black out in the middle of exercise, singing or even just talking. It was scary for me, because I would often lose about 5 min. of my memory before, and during my unconscious state. This would often result in my waking up in a pool of blood from colliding with some random object while I was out. It had gotten to the point where I was not allowed to participate in PE. I was even placed on the bottom row of risers in my school choir in the hopes that when I inevitably fell I wouldn't break my nose (again). More and more, I took the easy path, letting other people assist me, accepting that I was just a weakling, not exerting myself. Yet as I did so, it seemed like my symptoms were getting worse. When I started training karate, I was understandably quite afraid that I'd pass out and get myself kicked in the teeth or something. Still, I was so tired of people babying me that I decided not to tell my instructor about my condition (which was admittedly very stupid), in the hopes that I'd get treated like everyone else for a change. I decided that if I was going to pass out, it was just going to happen, and that I would fall right there on the dojo floor. I decided that I wouldn't go and sit down on the side like I had in PE or choir or any other activity. I won't lie, there were many times when I got tunnel vision, lost my hearing/equilibrium, and began to shake as if I was about to pass out. Yet somehow I remained awake. Over several years the symptoms began to fade off. To this day karate seems to have cured my narcolepsy (or whatever it was) completely. I only passed out once during training... rather recently actually, and it was while I was warming up in the beginning of class. lol! go figure. Anyway, to make a long story short, I have to wonder if all I needed was a little exercise (both mental and physical) to alleviate my problem.