Slayer2004

My club name is Koku-Ryu Karate we are based in North Lincolnshire, England

I offer separate as well as joined classes. Some of the reasons for joined classes are: The way we instruct younger members is a lot more basic and broken down. I have found a lot of adults have actually benefited from this at times as well. Junior members naturally look to adults for reassurance and when seeing an adult trying the same as they are it helps to encourage them. Children tend to have a go get em attitude that is lost for some in adulthood and it shows even adults that sometimes they should try new things. One of the best things I like about those lessons are the adults who are not too keen at the pace of the younger members (only been told once) and I just reminded them that part of good karate-do is patience and that learning to be patient is sometimes more important than learning how to punch or kick an opponent. What do you think?

I have to be honest I am shocked that you have had a problem. I have been ordering from Blitz for nearly 10 years now and never had a single problem. I have had White Diamond Gi's and never had a sizing problem. I am 5'10" and I order 180cm and they are too big for me. Blitz however are correct, in the end you are not their customer the shop you purchased from are and they should be able to resolve the issue for you. But can I ask why you didn't buy from blitz direct??

I charge students £10 per kyu grading and Dan grades are undertaken by our governing body at I think £75 for First Dan, my Second Dan cost £120. I would love to not have to charge for kyu grades but we only charge £3.50 per two hour training session and with the charges we have to face with hall rental and our own insurances, we have to charge to ensure we cover costs. I do not however take anything from the club financially. I do however use the funds that are raised to give my students new equipment, subsidise events and try to give them the best experiences in Karate possible along with life-skills lessons too.

Thats the general concept that I have been told by most places, am trying to keep the costs to a minimum and although we have rebreakable boards they seem to lose something.

I know, its funny as I asked for pine boards in the email and they replied with sheeting. Do you get the impression that they just didn't want to be helpful lol. I am going to go up again this week and ask again but if no joy I will leave B & Q alone and keep searching.

No I just asked for pine. I agree, this was so much easier when I lived in the south of the UK. I asked at B&Q and then even emailed them to make sure, their response was as follows: Unfortunately we do not sell Pine sheeting, although we do have a vast range of different woods/ boards. So I am stuck again, seems silly. You would also have through that they would have been willing to order it in for customers.

Hi everyone, Still no joy, Homebase and B&Q have said they do not stock pine and will not either. Beginning the think this is a hard task now lol, I am open to any suggestions though if anyone has any? Regards Andy

The lumber yards in my area when I spoke to them they said that they didnt stock it due to it not being strong enough and no real request for supply

Thank you, I did try homebase and the woman I spoke to looked at me as if I had stepped off of a UFO lol. I tried a few places but I havent tried B & Q, but will take drive tomorrow and ask, its not close but will be worth it if they will help. I agree regarding the premade ones through suppliers, think they are way too expensive when you are just going to break them, for that reason I would like to keep costs as low as possible. Thanks again I really appreciate it, if anyone has any other materials that they recommend etc I am always open to suggestions. Andy

We wear a black gi, this was simply because of parents complaining about not being able to get the white ones as clean as they would like etc, we decided to go with black as this kept my students parents happy and without students I would not be able to teach, but I do still have my traditional white gi still and will always respect that.

Hi I wonder if someone might have the insight in this area to help. I would like to introduce this to my students and I know that the best wood to use is White Pine, but after contacting several companies I am unable to get any and no one seems to know where I can. Soes anyone know where I can get some in the uk or an alternate wood type to use? Andy

Hey Still Kicking, I like a lot on here would highly recommend best of the best 1 if not 2 as well. Well worth it.

I love the best of the best saga and have all 4, but there are so many that I have enjoyed over the years. I even enjoy the original karate kid trilogy

Thanks Wire for letting me know, I missed this somehow. Ok here is my two cents on this. The first is it is called the Karate Kid, but it is set in China and even Sony pictures description of it is about a kid being taught Kung Fu. The second is that Jackie Chan is in it, and teaching Kung Fu, fine but he is Chinese and it isnt Karate, so can anyone shed some light on their thought process as to why they are attemping to technically insult both martial arts with this movie. I am dreading it when I get new students roll in after seeing this movie and me having to let them know that its completely different.

Hi I was wondering what the views of everyone are regarduing the soon to be released Karate Kid movie starring Jackie Chan and Jadan Smith. I admit when I heard that a remake was happening I was very happy at the prospect of Karate being given a modern boost while a lot of other martial arts have had a boost in interest from recent hollywood movies but when I heard that Jackie Chan would be taking the role similar to that of Mr Myagi I had to pause...isnt Jackie Chan Chinese??? This promptly put me into investigation mode and I found more about it and that the whole movie is set in China. Now the trailer is available to view online and I have watched it and from what I can see let alone the information on the film it is all based around Kung Fu. So my opinion is that Sony pictures have seriously screwed up. I have a lot of respect for other martial arts and feel by creating this film they insult both Karate and Kung Fu for being completely inaccurate. What about every one else, what is yhour opinion?

Hey I know this topic is a little older but I thought I would just add that not every martial artist wishes to be reknowned by the whole world but maybe they are well known by many in the area they teach or train. Am sure if I mention a few instructors I have trained with who have given me a lot of useful knowledge over the years, no one would recognise them. But I guess that this will be the case with many of us where as we earn our higher dan grades we will not necessarily be known by name. Who knows. Andy

Hi everyone, I was just reading another karate forum and one topic that came up was the fact that some people think that gradings for kyu grades are too easy and often given to people who do not deserve them. Also it was said that the cost is too expensive and should cover the cost of the belt too. I run my own club in the UK and grade each student acording to my grading syllabus which I devised to ensure that I cater for speed, power and technique on every section. Everything is marked on a grading sheet so that students are able to reflect on areas should they require further development (obviously they all do, but you get what I mean I hope). None of my students will ever pass just because they paid the fee and I will fail anyone who is not upto the standard during their grading. I charge £10 for the grading and then £2.50 for their belt should they pass. Does anyone else feel that students are passing when they have not achieved their grade? I would love to hear everyones points on this issue. Regards Andy

Hiya I am a programmer as well as an instructor and have designed my own software for my club. I would be happy to help out if people need it, time dependant that is. Regards Andy