Blade96

I dont like drawing attention to myself because I'm a shy and quiet person who's actually afraid of people. But kiai is easy for me cause its in the dojo where everyone kiai's. so i blend in at least.

Thats good. Go out there and Knock em dead. (Ok not literally. But you know what I mean.) Show em what you've got. And did I mention, have fun? =]

something wrong if your instructor turns out to be Dracula in a karate gi =] but seriously, my instructor didnt tell me what i needed to work on before I had my own yellow belt grading on feb 26. Cause he was like, 'I dont think you're gonna do well. I know you're gonna do well' and giving me praise and compliments. It was like he had more confidence in me than I had in myself! I mean I know I'm good at karate, but I was like, Ok. Thanks guys. but don't lay it on too thick. what I needed to know: Kata (Heian Shodan) basic ippon kumite (and thats like basic my partner punches and i block then i punch and he block that kind of thing, and we had to know all the different white belt blocks and punches) Side snap kick Basic punch and lunge punch (seiken zuki and oi-zuki) Did gyaku zuki (reverse punch) even though not required but I was told by my nidan (who got graded to sandan yesterday) that because karate is a way of life (karate-do) and life is about pressure they might ask us to do something else to see how we'd react. That was about it for us. Its a shotokan white belt grading, but just thought it might help, a little? to know what a grading is like. Btw I thought I'd be really nervous. and i was - before it started. But it actually turned out to be a lot of fun! Good luck, Karate Queen.

Ours is traditional Shotokan, so you're not mistaken with us. My senseis would flip if someone showed up wearing anything other than a white gi. New people who obviously dont have a gi yet they have their jogging pants and etc but you're expected to get a white gi as soon as you can. Also white gi are compulsary for grading and stuff like that, tournaments and so on.

Chitsu-san, wouldn't who taught you also be a reflection and show just what exactly you are taught as showing a lot of legitimacy though? My senseis, for example, both trained under Hidetaka Nishiyama-sensei and Masami Tsuruoka-sensei. Nishiyama-sensei was one of the actual students of Funakoshi O-Sensei. The fact they trained under both these well known figures of karate shows what they were taught as legit also who taught them as also being legit. I'd say both. who taught you and what you were taught. Its both. Its intertwined, interconnected. and both demonstrate legitimacy of your art and your dojo/dojang/etc.

I think Matt is talking about a way to train not creating a new style of martial arts...possibly looking for drills and ideas to work on the concepts he has identified....? I am familiar with him (as is Kuma) because of his posts on the other forum, and Kuma is right.

LOL I was used as uke on the same day I hit the brown belt....sensei was right beside me and he told the black belt i was partnered with to aim punch at my head. So he did, I stepped back, responded with juji uke and a reaction punch. Sensei then turned to the rest of the class and said 'See! Thats what good instruction does!"

I've been to two of Sensei Kanazawa's seminars here in California, and I'm always in awe. It's amazing to see this 70 plus Karate Master at work. Very recently his son (a 7th Dan) gave a seminar in Sunnyvale, CA; he is also an awsome Karateka. His technique is also flawless (and fast too!). awesome. you actually got to watch this amazing Sensei and his son.

Pony tails work for me.

Snort. Humph. I have to ask higher belts sometimes to go harder on me. I can take a lot more than they give sometimes and my blocks and strikes are hard as well. plus my reflexes are pretty good, so i have to ask them sometimes stop treating me like white belt lol got a brown belt in the face on friday with a good punch. I still have the habit of apologizing when i hit someone but my sensei tagged me for that and he says 'dont ever apologize! If they get hit its their own fault!" I know my blocks and punches are hard. I can even knock Sensei off balance with a good one and he's a big man. tall and stocky.

Congrats!

That makes sense, especially in the behavior of the BB's of my dojo. With some of them we never said two words to each other. Sempai is a good example. It wasnt that he didnt like me, its just that we pretty much never spoke or hardly even glanced at each other. But once I got promoted - his behavior - and those of other BB's - changed. He smiles at me more, talks to me more. I had a nice chat with him the night of the test when we were at the bar afterwards and got to know him a bit. Its like - they dont hardly really aknowledge white belts very much (well other than the senseis, but I already wrote about them how they show much obvious favoritism to me even more now so) - but yeah, like you said - once I proved myself - they changed. Have you ever noticed that?

Hirokazu Kanazawa I told my sensei (who is 7th dan) that maybe he should keep going then he could have a 10th dan like him, his response was 'You know of Kanazawa?' of course I do. he's good with the katas I go to his videos when I want some clarification on my kata and I dont want to wait for class.

Uh, yeah. I think thats probably one of the things that was happening when i said 'i felt different but i cant explain it' That and the new responsibility placed on me when i happened to be the student in front, at farthest right, before any BB's came in and we were in seiza and it was my job to say 'sempai - rei' Deer in the headlights, I was, because it never sunk in at first that I was in this position and after 'sensei - rei' Sempai turned and looked at me and mouthed the words for me to say and it was like, For I was highest rank, and the one in front farthest right at the time. but it never really sunk in until he turned and looked at me....Never did it before, but then i was always a white belt. Until now...... anyway pretty cool!

Aiiieee, my hips, lol. It makes my time as a white belt feel like child's play. My NiDan (who I'm great friends with) said that when he started as a yellow belt he was absolutely terrible! Of course he also failed all of his dan tests the first time he tried to grade up. My brown belt friend also said that her kicks are terrible. But they learned to do them, and I will too! I love the challenge. It feels different, too. ranking up. I just dont feel the same anymore. It feels different when you are a higher belt. Not cocky or anything. just - different. I cant explain it. I'm also gaining more strength in my legs. I can do kiba dachi and kokutsu dachi with no problems - and hold the stance ! I saw out of the corner of my eye my other yellow belt friend still found it hard to hold stance zenkutsu dachi so he had his legs straight while I held the stance. And I was like Wow! It was the yoko geri kekomi that killed my legs and hips. Not having really done it before, see and twisting my hips and straighten my leg.

I knew you would, Lupin.

I agree. Harsh. I'm a yellow belt and we were working on our kokutsu dachi (thats back stance for beginners who might not know japanese yet)) for our heian nidan kata, and Sensei always lets us look down so we can correct our stance. well he does at first (we just got promoted so last night was our first yellow belt class so at first, yeah, he's gonna let us look down to correct ourselves at first.) Of course he pushes us too to see how off balance we are. one point was funny - when we raise our arms at the beginning of this kata to block a punch and sensei told me to hit him. So I did and he was like 'Wicked!" what a powerful block!" Then he told my friend to do it. I was almost laughing cause he said to the guy, "Come on you should hit harder than that! *Blade* (ok not using my real name) can hit much harder than you and she's only a tiny little girl!" LOL.

I had some fun doing Heian Nidan in team kata in unison with my other 8th kyu friend last night, I'd love to do this kata in team kata in a tournament!

Thanks, BD. Aye, had my first class as a yellow belt tonight, oh my legs! Those yoko geri kekomi can be hard on the hips and legs well i havent really done it very much before, do my legs and hips ever feel like crud lol its part of yellow belt cirriculum though and I still love it. so meh

I found a nice one too. done by black belts.

Thanks so much.

enjoy the pretty rainbow belt. Congrats.

well that is in theory, because generally, yes, they pick the best of the best. But honestly I can think of a couple times when that never happened. Todd Bertuzzi for the 2006 canadian olympic team? No Sidney Crosby? Say huh? He, Bertuzzi, doesnt even come close to being one of the best of the best. But then the management and coaching of that team didnt have two clicks to rub together to call a sweet clue. so.... *shrugs* Ah well. Karma works. Plushenko's attitude was atrocious as far as I am concerned.

I know, eh? People who come in second.....thats great!! If you aim for the sun and hit the moon, are you bad? Certainly not! They arent being realistic to my mind. in theory the best of the best are picked for the olympics. If you come in second against the best of the best, you should have a sile on your face the size of the grand canyon! what, you mean Yevgeni Plushenko? He was upset because he did a quad and the one who won the gold never and he thought the person who does the quad should get the gold and it should be a requirement. Thanks.

Its like of like synchronized swimming or skating. Your doing a kata except as a group and all of you are in unison, alyned with each other perfectly as close as you can. You move, spin, and kick and punch and you do it together. Its not like individual kata, team kata is a bit harder, doing the kata, Its different because now you are doing it with someone else and you have to allyn your movements with theirs. I like doing team kata, we had to do it for our grading on Friday.