TheKarateKid

at my dojo its 10 press ups and when shihan takahashi is doing the gradings (2 time a year) we do drill the pressups no matter what. i like it, i have become physically more strong in my upper body.

ohh boy! well for me a year long rego and insurance is $100 and each time i go to the dojo which is a pro organisation its $4AUD if i go or $2AUD if i go with my dad. so thats how i can train twice a week and not worry. although i do owe about $80 on rego so i should prolly do that tues or wed night.

actually one punch jodan would! kazami will do the trick if you can get in fast enough. my kazami makes the most sturdy of BB's stumble a few steps and earn enough praise to be told i have the potential to hurt someone....at ungraded level ((at the time)) Kazami is one of my fave punches. i also recommend a fake magari ((just flick your foot)) moving into a washigari. its worked with me

my 'aha' moment was when shihan takahashi spoke to me in japanese and i understood it. that is after i had greeted him and introduced my self the traditional japanese way/ karate way. mixing Oss with konichiwa. i have never spoken so fluently in my life.

Humm this might be rather helpful http://www.karate-made-easy.com/karate-stances.html it has helped me with my stances and mine have gotten deeper and longer just with practice.

at TSKF dojos in australia we get BB ((once reached that level)) with our names on them and they are personally given to us by Shihan Takahashi. we don't have a choice in what type of belt we want. Ours comes all the way from Japan.

the thing is it might not be the students place but alt'ly its affecting the students learning in karate. So if a student approaches their sensei and says politely 'sensei, i think that training sesh was very out of the ordinary for you, is something bothering you?' you are being a student who is expressing concern while also saying that was out of character for them to teach that way.

Its strange that you mention the hook kick; i graded in march to white belt and because of the classes i am able to attend, in the training kumite session we have just started doing them (( i'm told to do it to the best of my ability of course)) i do have one thing going for me and that is...i'm no lightweight so it takes a couple of kicks before i actually move.

the best way to rectify this is to practice 'contract and expand' example being: on the 4th count of heian shodan you spin right? well just before it ((punching chudan age uki)) bring your feet together andbend you knees slightly for balance turn then go into gadambari(( picturing it)) Here is a Youtube of Nidan for you ((notice at the very begining he brings both feet together. That is called contrating. do that be for you turn))

How come you don't have a 10th kyu??

yes i agree it is a poor example but it was the best i could find. To me knockdown karate looks more like boxing in a do-gi! all i suggest then it train at home with wrist and ankle weights on and that way you build up the strength in your forearms and not your bicepes. in karate all power comes from your hips, once you nail hicatai you're righ

he's not blocking correctly then. when being attacked Jodan by your sparring partner or whoever the proper block is jodan age uke which is to have your forearm at an angle like so http://www.3battleskarate.com/images/jodan%20age%20uke_lg.jpg when blocking Chodan the right block should ALWAYS connect with the wrist and not the hand and when counter attacking you sweep the opponents fist across their body so you have access. learn Chudan age uke correctly and you won't get hurt [/url]

at my dojo we bow before we enter, before we start, during training, after training, and as we leave. when we have drinks break we bow and if we approach any black belt of 3rd shodan or higher we bow, say oss and continue with whatever. we also bow to our partners when doing kumite. it gets a bit repetivie but i don't mind as it stretches my back. i actually hang out with a couple of the black belts from my dojo and we greet eachother in the normal way.

Ok so i leanrt from a national champion how to and not once did i damage anything. i also recommend any of these ways of wrapping http://www.boxinggyms.com/tips/handwraps.htm

Eww yuck! that's too much for me! i hate kata but absolutly LOVE kumite. i'm absolutly lethal in kumite they pair me with black belts because i can keep up with themand to a certain extent once i've figured out a technique we do free sparring (( no other belt that is below purple is allowed)) but i keep up and hit hard enough. if shotokan style karatians know who shihan takahashi is ((which by the way you should)) i was personally told by him i would make an excellent fighter but because i'm crap at kata he won't let me skip a belt

welll considering i am a graded white belt that trains with black belts i've found that the black belt katas are much easier to pick up so my faves are: Basai doh Basi sho Basi dai ((i know some of these are brown belt katas but i train with them also. I a weapon in descisiee)) All of the tekkes

@ Sokusen: my motto for knockdown karate which is what TSKF is, is " If you're afraid to get hurt or to hurt someone, don't bother doing it!" my reasoning is you have to be tough. if you get hit Jodan you might have you're face rearranged so if kumite sparring and getting cuts and bruises bothers you don't bother with comps because you'll seriously break something like you're face or arm. you can't let some cuts and bruises put you off. i saw my sempei break his toe severly ((open compoud break)) last week on tuesday and the whole tip of his toe had moved to the right and was horizontal while he had bone exposed. he had been practicing a double kick that only 5 mins before he had done the same kick in training.

ok so a good way to practice the 'horse stance' like your your riding a horse is to put your feet a little bit past shoulder width and sit on your hips with your bum cheeks sucked in like your holding a piece of paper between them. this is how my sensei discribed it. now when you practise this practise it at home and LOOK at your feet or get two sticks and line them paralelle to each other. i swear this technique will have you nailing this stance

WOW!! we have a 8yr old green belt at my dojo and 2 disabled yellow belts (we're not quite sure how one of them got there coz she carn't do the katas, kumite and her kiyas go for about 2mins or until one of the sempeis gets real agro)

i take one step out the way while executing gadambrai (think thats right)

my dojo you have to be 13 or 14 before you can become 1st dan (first level of blackbelt) this is the belt system at my TSKF white white w black stripe yellow orange green blue purple brown x3 black

@ explosive power: i too use to do boxing. the transition is made comfortable if you have nice instructors. make sure to let you new dojo instructors know you did boxing, i told mine and they really help you with punching and now i'm a machine. @ Toptomcat: i disagree with you on the fustrations of transition. i was a contender myself and found that the stop-start kumite was better. i had more to focus on instead of beating a bag. by letting my instructors know i found they helped me when they saw my puching curving like i was doing a left or right hook. @ GeoGiant: again i think its up to the person and how eager they are to adapt to change. i personally enjoy karate more than i did boxing so i found it easy to adapt. what i will say though is that if someone from a boxing background changes to karate you can strike jodan (the jaw) soyeah but just remember to counterblock )

what a rip, face protection in comps!

@ Dr. Frank: Was this at nationals in perth? 22 people from my dojo went there and i was wondering if you knew the name of the person.

we do full contact for black and brown belts only!