likeke34

i think it's just a personal preference... I outgrew my 1st black belt a long time ago lol... I was just a teen and when I became an adult, there's no way I could even tie my belt anymore haha... my 2nd belt started to get extremely ugly and busted looking... I remember my sensei telling me i must be training hard and that people actually like it when their belt starts to look like mine... he even said he's heard of people that purposely washed it w/bleach to get it looking like how mine was... personally, i didn't like it though lol... when i was a kid white belt, i remember wanting to be a black belt more than anything and i'd see some of the busted black belts and worried that when i became a black belt, it would eventually turn back white again! so, when my black belt started going white... i just replaced it with a new nice tokaido belt! i personally just like my belt black and don't really care for the experienced look because of my experience/thoughts as a kid whitebelt... just my 2 cents on the matter

exactly, i've noticed this as well... in tournaments i've competed in for the past 20yrs the same guys that won kata also won kumite, maybe they'd rotate positions like 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc, but the best at kumite always had extremely clean kata... i understand at the wkf and usankf level they specialize more, but if you do research, you'll see wkf world champs putting out vids of their katas with the bunkai and such... so i take this as an example that if the wkf champs at kumite take their kata serious enough to actually demonstrate the bunkai, why shouldn't we? well it's just my opinion on the matter and no matter what i say or think, there are those (even in my own dojo), who rather just do kumite and ignore kata, and vice versa... luckily, as an instructor i can still make them practice both

i may be thinking old school, but i personally think kata is essential in karate... maybe it wont directly affect your kumite, but i think it teaches you things like concentration, speed, power, kime, etc... like i said earlier, and i'll use george kotaka as an example again, he has extremely crisp kata techniques... low stance, good timing, snap, kime, fluid movements, and he's WKF world kumite champion... idk if he competes in kata anymore but his kata is really nice some people like to specialize in kumite, some in kata, but there are those (and i really admire and respect them) who become tournament grand champions by winning in both... Frank Brennan is a great example... his kumite was deadly, but he also had nice kata and won 1st in both... i just don't like how people are trying to eliminate kata by saying it's useless because IMO it's far from useless... look at lyoto machida, ufc fighter (former lhw champion) and STILL practices kata lol... Chinzo machida as well... he performs unsu and he fought ogata in a close fight to take 2nd... my point is, some of the best in the world at kumite, practice kata, and their katas are clean... i think people just want to kumite because it's more interactive and fun so they rather not do kata... and i personally just don't agree w/that mentality... When I competed in the FSKA world championships, all i wanted was to take 1st in both lol... although i fell short in both (2nd in kata, 3rd kumite), i was surprised i was the only person in my divisions who competed in both... anyways, long post lol, but that's just my opinion

traditional white gi... kind of off topic but i just got a new tokon sovereign gi which is honestly the most comfortable gi i've ever owned! it has snap thats' good enough for kihon/kata which is pretty cool since it's not stiff like a heavyweight gi... for the past 15yrs or so i've used tokaido, and prior to that i owned a century gi... let's just see how long it holds up because my tokaido gi's last forever it seems

wow, a lot of old timer black belts in here lol... i train shotokan (did judo and bjj as well, and did boxing... and muay thai lol but my main style/passion is shotokan)... i'm a nidan taking the sandan soon... made shodan 13yrs ago when i was 16

I've always competed in both kata and kumite... Well, not always, I started kata as a white belt nearly 21yrs ago lol, started kumite at blue belt and have done both ever since... Growing up here (hawaii), the same people that won kata also won kumite! it was always the same few people i'd compete against that would rotate positions... sometimes i'd win 1st, sometimes 2nd or 3rd, but even when there were 10+ competitors me and 3 people would rotate those 3 places majority of the time... I know things change or it might be different now, but growing up i remember george kotaka & garin miyaji competing against each other and they were the top 2 in both kata and kumite... although garin stopped fighting and george seemed to specialize more now, i noticed a correlation between the 2... maybe i'm an old dog even though i'm only 29 lol, but i feel that you need to try your best at both! I've competed in the FSKA world tournament in las vegas and noticed that the same people in my kata division were not the same people in my kumite division... the foreign countries all had specialized teams for kata and kumite... i didn't win either division, but i did take 2nd in kata, and i did take 3rd in kumite, and it felt good to be one of the few who competed and placed in both as an adult blackbelt! just a note, kata is subjective IMO... a judge at the fska world tourney came up to me and told me he really liked my kata, but that i wouldn't win performing it that way because it was too traditional... the others added extra flares to traditional kata that gave them the edge (although 2nd wasn't too bad)! Those guys were good though! the kumite guys were fast as lightning, luckily i've fought george before so it wasn't new to me and i was able to hold my own... and they didn't hit as hard as he does lol