TheHighlander

I'm curious to know what everyone's thought on the proper length of a karate belt? Is it the belt hanging no lower than mid-thigh? Also, over time the belt naturally lengthens as it gets worn out. What is typical? cotton or satin?

I would appreciate people's opinion on this. My wife just tested for 4th kyu last week. She kicked butt - she knew it and I knew it. Went to class this week and found out she received a half-rank. She gets to wear the 4th kyu belt and test for 3rd kyu in 6mos., but has a lot of ground to cover to do so. We were both shocked. there was never any indication of concern about this from the instructors either. They always gave her the feeling that should stood above others at her level. Disclaimer: yes I am her husband, but I have always prided myself on giving her a fair assessment of where I thought she (or my kids) stood. Never a false sense of standing. She was more than ready for this test. We are part of a very large org so testing is done if front of various and random instructors and black belts, not necessarily our instructors. There is no dispute process and we accept that, but she went from a very dedicated student who put in a lot of extra time, to questioning why even continue? It is not necessarily the rank itself, but her abilities and efforts not being recognized. I honestly don't know how to help her work through this.

Talked to my sensei about this on Saturday. Another sparring day where I felt my feet slipping a bit. He watched me for awhile, and noticed that I am not using my toes to try and "grab" the floor. My toes are almost pointing upward, not really providing much help. So I sparred again concentrating on really trying to dig in. It helped quite a bit. Unfortunately, it will take a little while before I don't have to actively think about this during sparring.

Our club is hosting 3 of them over the next few months. The first being Feb. 14. We're a little further than your 2 hour radius (~ 2.5 - 3 hrs - Palatine, IL), but there will be about 1000 competitors there. Here's the club website: http://www.iskc.com/ and the upcoming tournament in two weeks: http://www.iskc.com/events1.html I think the next tournament after that will be around March 14.

they are dry only because of the dirt/dust that may be on the floor. I mean, I am sweating! I swear! I don't know, it's not like the gym is filthy, but it seems to be enough for me to not feel like I can really push off at times.

I have been having issues for a while now while sparring in class, and not sure what to do about it. Curious to know others advice. I train on a wooden gym floor. I can't get the traction I need when shifting, which leaves me open or I missing an opening for attack. The floor usually as a little dirt/grime on it, and no matter how many times i try to quickly wipe the soles of my feet, I can't shift like I know I could if I were wearing shoes. It gets really frustrating. front-to-back shift isn't too bad but side-to-side is really bad. Once in a while we train on a floor that is carpeted, and forget it! My dry feet on the carpet; I might as well be on ice... When on the mats for tournaments, it is not nearly this bad, but I don't feel I get to train as well as I would like, so my prep for tournaments is lacking IMO. I have even tried rubbing grip gel on my feet that tennis players use for their rackets, but that only last so long. We also cannot spar with shoes on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

that's interesting. My Shotokan club is the exact opposite. I think it is used once in all the katas (8 in total) before Shodan. It is used once in Heian Godan. I can only remember one class (in just over two years) where we spent any sort of time on it. Definitely seems more of an advanced move.

I've started (a few times ) but have yet to finish it. But you still get a lot of benefits just doing the program as long as you can. You will definitely see some strength/size gains. the program was actually the catalyst to switching from weight training only to body weight training, which has been very beneficial for me.

I finally set goals for a great 2010 - it will be a unique year for me ripe with opportunity. * Compete in the Jennifer Malloy tournament (local Chicago tournament) on Feb. 14 to gauge where I stand after my recent promotion. I am now considered an intermediate student, and will compete against anyone who is 5th kyu up through 2nd kyu. * Compete in the Illinois State Championship in May. This is a qualifier to the USANKF National Championship in July. *Get promoted to yonkyu (4th kyu – High Purple) in May/June * Compete in the USANKF National Championships – Greenville, SC July 8-11 * Start a blog documenting the journey. http://miledeep.wordpress.com/ I know I am late to the blogging scene, but I follow a few karate blogs and have learned a lot from the writers and commenters. Would welcome anyone here to follow and help me along the way.

My sensei told me that we will be doing this drill (3-on-1) tonight!

Here's how to make a leg stretcher from a set of wooden crutches in 5 minutes!! I actually did it; $5 for the crutches. It works great.

Looking for exercises to increase my lateral speed - moving to side to evade an attack, moving at angle to outmaneuver an opponent. I know that plyometrics are good for this, but most exercises I find are geared towards increasing vertical jump, not necessarily lateral movement. What are some exercises that you use in your training?

at least in our club, we need to know Heian 1-5, Tekki Shodan, Jion, and then Bassai Dai. Bassai Dai is the test kata for 1st kyu and BB.

I do different types of pullups and chinups - using your own bodyweight against gravity. One variation that has really been effective is wrapping a towel around the pullup bar and gripping the towel to do pullups. It's a killer!!

Chicago has a very large Shotokan club, Illinois Shotokan Karate Club. https://www.iskc.com It is pretty unique in the fact that it runs through numerous park districts in the Chicagoland area. check out your local park district program for info - it will allow contact with many people in this style, which I think is similar to yours.