Spodo Komodo

I wear the belt for the efficient organization of the dojo. It is easier to say white belts do this, yellow belts do that or up to blue belt do this purple and above do that than it is to talk to every student individually. If it was just me and the instructor then I wouldn't need a belt.

Training uniforms would be tweed suits (plus fours for gentlemen, long skirts for ladies, shorts for under 16s), different colour cravats for different grades, bowler hats for formal wear, flat caps for sparring. The syllabus would start with basic apologising, brushing your opponent aside with decorum and then onto rapping sharply upon the nose with an umbrella, walking stick attacks and finally rolling shirt sleeves for fisticuffs. Advanced techniques would include bows, long staffs and small yappy terrier-jutsu. Tea with a selection of sandwiches, cakes and pastries would be served at the end of the lesson. We actually did this about a decade ago with some guys who were into reviving Bartitsu but an influx of hipsters ruined the tweed scene and it sort of fell apart.

I thought so, my physio is definitely what you call an exercise physiologist. I have lower back problems after an accident and I have been seeing my physio for about eight years now. I have exercises, we have looked at diets, I know what I can and can't do in the gym and we have even been through most of the karate syllabus in order to correct posture and make sure I am not damaging anything there. The other types of physiotherapist here are the occupational therapists who specialise in getting you back to work as quickly as possible (at least the ones employed by my former company did) and sports physiotherapists who usually specialise in increasing performance and decreasing the problems on injury in a particular sport. Given the UK preferences most of these specialise in popular sports such as running and football. There is a Martial Arts specialist at a nearby university but she has a long waiting list.

I think we have a difference in terminology here. In the UK a doctor or surgeon will defer to a physiotherapist for such matters. I think our physiotherapists are what you seem to be calling Physical or Exercise Therapists, they are people who specifically work in rehabilitation after injury by means of physical therapy - exercise, massage, stretching etc. What does a physiotherapist do in your neck of the woods if they don't specialize in exercise and rehabilitation?

I think that is more of a pond difference than a Christian thing. The various churches, seminaries, theological colleges and monasteries in Europe are brimful of masters/maitres/meisters, generally used as a title rather than any indication of wisdom, knowledge or mastery of anything in particular. I have noticed American theological students bristling when told to bow/curtsey and use the correct title on occasions. On the other hand many European students don't like the terms American churches use and openly quibble when a 25 year old person states he is a church elder or a pastor (which still implies he herds sheep here). Sometimes you just have to accept that there are minor differences in culture and just get on with what is expected by everyone else around you. When in Rome and all that.

In your case I would probably suggest a plan of swimming, core work and free weights. Swimming and core work such as Pilates will help to increase your general fitness and will probably trim the waist on their own (given a sensible diet of course) while strengthening the lower back. Swimming is great exercise without straining the joints and it works the shoulders and abs a treat. A couple of dumbbells and some weight plates will do the rest. Curls, kickbacks, flyes, squats, deadlifts and presses can all be done safely with dumbbells and they shouldn't touch your hip apart from the deadlifts and squats. Karate should have given you strong enough legs so you could just concentrate on upper body stuff with the weights. See a professional trainer and/or a physiotherapist for the details but there is plenty you could do.

I am just imagining the world of hurt I would have been in if I had ever called my school house master "Lionel"! As for titles, on the mat I am happy to use Sensei, Senpai, Kohei etc. but off the mat it is generally less formal. No different to calling my police officer friend "officer" when he is on duty and "Dave" when he is playing FIFA on my Xbox.

Yes, I am more in favour of open sessions with lots of different individuals taking part, then the school cheerleading doesn't cloud things. It is often better if teachers, coaches and instructors stay out of it.

As long as it is done with respect for each other then it is a great way to identify weaknesses and train to stop them. However... I was training at a Karate Dojo where a local MMA/BJJ club asked to get together for a "friendly sparring jam". After a few bouts it became clear that they were there for their own egos and expected to get every karateka onto the ground and into trouble. It didn't work like that as the dojo trained extensively in kata bunkai including locks, throws and groundfighting. One of the guys started complaining that we were not using karate. One of the senior students replied that we were using karate but why should that matter in a "friendly sparring jam"? Things got a bit heated and some people started getting injured so we called a halt and parted in ill humour. If there is no hidden agenda then it can be great fun but beware the egos.

If you look for somewhere that does alterations, shortening jeans and that sort of thing they could probably repair it in five minutes. Some branches of Timpsons (ubiquitous UK keycutting/shoe mending and repair service) will alter jeans so they might be worth a look.

Has the fabric actually ripped or has the stitching come undone? If the fabric is ripped I would patch from inside and relegate the gi to second-tier duties. If the stitching is bust then I would take it to someone with an industrial sewing machine for re-stitching.

The book is Sabaki Method by Joko Ninomiya, I have an old edition and it explains the principles of Enshin Karate and a couple of the kata. They seem a secretive bunch though, I only found out recently that there was an Enshin Karate class in the next village to me which closed down through lack of members, they could have had five more if they had advertised! Apparently there was a poster on the door of the school hall but as I am not in the habit of visiting primary schools on the off chance I didn't see it. My advice is to email another Enshin club, not necessarily near you and see if they can put you in touch with someone.

Never too old to change to a healthy diet, I'm 46 and benefiting immensely from getting my nutrition sorted. All I can add is, log your food truthfully and then you will see where you need to make the changes. Don't make changes blind. I don't know how clued up you are about nutrition but Futurelearn are offering a free online course in Nutrition and Wellbeing next month from the University of Aberdeen. It is likely to be basic but they are generally well produced, interesting and not pushing expensive supplements like some online courses I have seen.

Neither did mine, I just felt guilty enough to feel the need to explain my absence every time I wasn't there. There is always a need to feel superior in absentia to those who are merely shirking due to hangovers, laziness or sport on the TV.

Sumo wrestlers seem to manage...

It became a running joke that if I wasn't there I had been attacked by animals. Not that it is Jurassic Park here but farm animals and wildlife can be mildly dangerous/unsanitary. I have been covered in liquid excrement after trying to push a stray cow out of a quarry. Had to go home and shower, missed the bus to class. I suffered a swollen testicle after being butted by a startled deer. An escaped pony ran onto the bus, it had to be sedated by a vet and the aisle swilled clean before we could continue the journey. Apparently the vet was in the process of "unblocking" a minor bowel obstruction when it bolted leaving a trail of soapy poo in its wake. Escaped sheep blocking the road, extremely common around here.

I wear these a lot, especially in summer. The zubon are cut like gi pants but have a zip fly, a couple of pockets but without the extra material in the crotch. You can still do the side splits in them (I would imagine ). I also have an old pair of black zubon that have been worn almost to death but they still make great casual trousers for wearing with sandals. I'm not sure I would go to the coffee shop in my best hakama and haori quite yet though.

I try to train the same winter or summer. As I live in England the weather can be wintry one day and summery a day later so I can't let the weather dictate what I do. Summer is also the time when we have the fewest public holidays (Spring is thick with them but after then just one day for harvest and next stop Christmas) so I tend to have more chance to train uninterrupted.

I'm not so sure, I think to find an effective middle ground in which to train Kata you would need to find someone who is well versed in kata bunkai (applications, not all schools teach then in depth) and also familiar with Krav Maga. When you learn an art with traditions and specific ways of doing things you tend to use them in all situations. When I have been in a self-defence situation I have found myself in various karate stances which probably wouldn't be applicable to Krav Maga so there would be a fair bit of sorting out to find a truly useful kata for Krav.

I fight myself because he's the only opponent I stand a chance against

Well there is your problem, right there! Get out and try it for yourself. I did and I was quite disappointed.

I said I am extremely resistant, not that they don't work. I spent several years at university in China (Shanghai & Xi'an) and my colleagues took me to a couple of Dim Mak schools but all I saw was ultra-compliant students falling over, nobody managed to make it work effectively on me. The effects of the strikes were no more than any other strike of that power, aimed at prominent bones or weak cartilage, such as the xiphoid process. I also went to a dentist who used acupuncture, give me novocaine any day!

When I see Dim Mak used effectively to put someone down in a competitive bout I might change my mind but up to now all the Dim Mak I have personally seen both here and in China has been fraudulent to say the least. Mind you, I am the kind of person who is extremely resistant to pressure point stuff and acupuncture doesn't have the slightest effect on me.

I have got into a routine, after the first session of the month my belt goes into the washer, my kit bag gets a good disinfecting and my contact lenses go in the bin (monthly disposables of course). New belts get two consecutive washes after my favourite gi developed a dark stain around the waist which took a fair bit of stain remover to get out again. I was told the story about the accumulation of dirt signifying the accumulation of knowledge by my McDojo sensei but my Iaido sensei told me to wash it regularly so that it didn't show the accumulation of my mistakes (no belt ranks so it was black from day one). I think he was extracting the urine somewhat .

I have never been taught that it was entirely for extra power (well, apart from the McDojo I used to go to). The rotation helps to bring the bicep properly into play and helps to prevent elbow hyperextension and there is some increase in power due to those two factors but I was always taught it was as much for injury prevention as power. It also prevents the punch from locking up before impact so the arm is relatively relaxed while it is being rotated, allowing the fist to be thrown rather than pushed until the moment before impact when the muscles come into play to drive the fist home. I suppose this makes for a more efficient use of muscular strength.