Patcherson

its a HUGE offense to wear shoes on the mat or inside a dojo! It's a sign of disrespect as you bring evil spirits into the room.

normally front legs are used if they are coming towards you. when they come in you lean back and your leg will rise

I was joking too <3 I roundhoused kicked a HEAVY punch bag and hurt my instep i hit it perfectly between the instep and the shin but it really hurt! I used my shin then used the ball of foot and wow no pain what so ever! goes to show you pain teaches volumes

the technique is literally slapping the other person's hand or foot out of the way it looks like a shuto but normally only done with the lead hand

the very old mma fights used to have high level karate and judo masters fighting in gi's (karate suits) but now all they wear is a pair of spedoes or shorts and most fights go to ground and pound it's not actually fighting its brawling

killer its about sport blocking not application so no grabs are in sport

ouch but i'll do it thanks

imagine kata in a competition and your jaw falls off when you kiah xD

lol xD being fit has been medically proven to help you live longer and karate keeps you fit point proven =0 http://www.docstoc.com/docs/443504/Activities-to-Stay-Healthy-and-Live-Longer there ya go xD

thats interesting the way you say "sports shotokan" I'm not saying anything bad about you it just makes you realize how far sport karate is from "real" karate.

Shotokan

well i do them every day but i'll belt em heal for a bit. how exactly does conditioning harden your knuckles or will i ever see the benefits or know i have them.

I don't say a word my sensai taught me that your kiah comes from just under your belly button when you punch or strike you exhale from it and the sound comes naturally i find i make a different sound for every move

ya I don't want to mess up my knuckles I'v seen one guy who uses makiwara and his knuckles are square I don't want to do anything like that i just want to avoid my bones breaking when i have to use em you know?

If you only do the martial side of karate its like walking on one leg if you only do the spiritual side its like walking on the other a good sensai teaches you how to walk on both legs and you learn karate till you die even grand master Kanazawa is still learning new things well the only thing i can say to that is if you do karate till you die you'll live longer... my sensai will be leaving my club soon , when i found out about it I nearly fell down it's disheartening for such a great teacher a friend even to have to leave but alas I can't change fate. I hope to take over the club someday and I won't stop training and I wont stop teaching till I can't make a fist anymore.

kata and knuckle push ups

wellow ! =D My name is patch , I'm from Ireland I'm 6th KYU (GREEN belt) in shotokan karate and have been doing it for 8 months If anyone has any questions just ask me on anything ! =D

all i can say to this is stretch stretch stretch stretch stretch stretch stretch stretch ! stretch! when you wake up stretch! when you go to sleep stretch! before you train stretch! after training stretch! during traning and stretch! at random times flexibility = less muscle movement resistance = more power and better technique

what do you guys think of blocking entirely with "slaps" from the leading hand or do traditional blocks have a place in karate?

The reverse direction as you describe isn't counter-productive. As the block has caused you to go to, for example, the right. The punch is being helped by your hip rotation as you come back from the right into center of your target. Hips are vital and the sooner martial artists understand hip movements and the like, the better martial artists they will be. You must stop the force of one technique before the next technique can begin! just an extra side note on that when you do a blick in karate the opposite hand always gets "loaded" for next move example is a rising block the hand goes to the waist so it is loaded for a reverse punch Osu! I agree with this as I got a few lumps for not doing this. I was cross-training with a few Shotokan guys and we were doing sanbon kumite and ippon kumite (three step and one step sparring, for those who prefer English terms). For chudan uchi uke I noticed I kept getting hit in the solar plexus area as when I went to the preparatory position my arm positioning was too high. The elbow of my blocking arm was more up near my sternum so by the time the block got there against a fast attack I was already hit. Once I lowered it some, now the elbow of the blocking arm during the preparatory phase is protecting my solar plexus. Now, if the strike hits it's my elbow against his fist, which can sting a bit, and my "block" is now a follow up forearm strike to his wrist or elbow. I think sanbon kumite and ippon kumite are great tools for learning how to use your blocks, and greatly underestimated tools at that. my sensai calls this the "double tap" method as in your lets say "none blocking hand" goes out first and hits the opponents hand out of the way while the other hand follows it to cause damage

anyone have any tips on knuckle conditioning bar doing knuckle press ups? they are kinda working but my hands ache

PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Nothing improves anything without practice...tons of practice! Some good ideas have been covered in this thread and they can't be argued with, but, without practice nothing is achieved. when you stop getting better you stop being good repeat your moves like you have an ocd its not coincidence that the older people in karate are also the fastest do each move 100s of times you will get speed faster than you can think trust me

well my reply to that person would be what a very wise sensai once told me before kumite "a man can survive on bread and butter , kizami zuki and gyaku zuki"