Wastelander

Welcome to the forum! Everything is Naihanchi, and all is Sanchin, so you're in good hands with those kata

There's always something that's not quite right--nobody is perfect, and nobody can perform a kata exactly the same way every time. Fatigue, soreness, injuries, any number of health issues, lapse in focus, etc. Lots of things can cause you to lose form. I have a tendency to do some movements too low as my shoulders get fatigued, especially if I'm working a lot of Kusanku Sho or Passai Sho. Sometimes my neurological issue gives me balance and motion sickness issues, so I can't move quickly, or have to alter my stances to keep my balance. Sometimes my brain just leaves me, and any number of things can happen

Thanks for letting me know Sensei Poage's currently a Godan, not a Rokudan, as I thought; his obi made me think that. A matter of fact, in reading the "Meet the Peaceful Warrior team" link at your dojo's webside, it does state "Renshi, 5th Dan", which I missed that bit of detail. In Shindokan, a Renshi must be a 6th Dan for consideration. The plug was my honor, as I fully honor and respect Sensei Poage, Peaceful Warrior Martial Arts, as well as his entire Student Body...especially you, Noah!! A solid post, on your part, as well, Noah. Not every rank is equal; not even the slightest at all!! Knowledge...experience are the core of each and every rank!! No problem, and thank you! We put the white stripe on top for Godan, and the red stripe on top for Rokudan, for what that's worth, and we do Renshi at Godan, although both the belt and the Renshi title at Godan isn't all that common in the karate world. You're also not the first person to assume he was a Rokudan, although the last time that happened, he was still a Yondan

sensei8 - Thank you for the plug! Lex and I are friends on Facebook, and he has a standing invitation--we'd be happy to have him. For what it's worth, my Sensei is a Godan, so higher than the website (that needs updated ) and lower than your estimation. With regard to the subject at hand, I would say that no ranks are equal across systems, so a first degree black belt in one style might be a green belt in another, or a third degree black belt in another. You can't really go by belts for consistency. Learning to the point where you feel ready to move on is going to be a personal decision, and shouldn't really be associated with a belt rank. I will say that, as a general rule, one should try to develop a deep understanding of an art, even if they explore the wider world of martial arts out there. Cross-training is a great thing to do, and will absolutely benefit you, but there is something to be said for really fine-tuning your body to the mechanics and methods of your style, and supplementing that with other material.

Well, I know that there are a couple Shotokan dojo, a Shindo-Jinen-Ryu dojo, and a Kyokushin dojo down in Tucson, but I'm afraid I don't know them, personally. The instructor of the Kyokushin dojo seems very nice, though, from my Sensei's discussions with him. Those are all Japanese styles, though, and often those have a tendency to place a great deal of emphasis on solo kata without bunkai, endless kihon, and sport-style kumite. That may not be the case with these dojo, of course, but you will have to visit and watch classes to find out. And, as sensei8 kindly pointed out, you would be welcome to stop by out dojo if you ever come up to Scottsdale!

Welcome to the forum, from another Arizonan! Where do you train?

Welcome to the forum!

I'm afraid we are going to have to accept the fact that ranks only have value in the context of the school they are given in, and every school is going to set different values for those ranks. I could decide that black belt is the first one you get after white, and grant it after 3 months, if I wanted. We can hate it all we like, but we are never going to stop someone from granting a Yondan rank to an 11 year old if they feel like it. This is one of those situations where we simply have to hold to our higher standard, and clearly explain/publicize the higher standard.

I am curious if you/your art utilizes this technique to attack vitals/cavities? If so do you only utilize Nukite to attack the neck or do you attck other soft targets? Yes, we do, and yes, we attack other soft targets as well. We also use the same throwing application you described in your post. Depending on the opponent, we sometimes end up with the nukite actually being a sliding forearm strike to the back of the neck. There are just so many ways a movement can be applied. For the sake of this conversation, though, I was sticking with the most straight-forward thing--striking to vulnerable points in the neck (or the eyes) with the fingertips or thumb. For someone with little experience with the bunkai process, it's a solid place to start.

Well, your fingers will never penetrate a human ribcage, so the orientation of the ribs doesn't really matter. The simplest application is that you are actually attacking the neck, not the body. There are many other ways to look at it, though

Everything is Naihanchi. Admittedly, I practice two versions of Naihanchi, but even so, everything is Naihanchi. From a structural and application perspective, you don't really need anything else. I do still like Tawada Passai quite a bit, though, as well as Seiyunchin

The more expensive gi, as Nidan Melbourne mentions, generally use higher quality material that will last longer. They often also have more reinforcement in areas that take a lot of strain and wear during training. Of course, part of the price is also paying for the prestige of the brand.

As I understand it, bamboo of a certain size is roughly as difficult to cut as bone, but people often mistake that for being the same as breaking a bone. I believe Mythbusters worked out a certain diameter of poplar dowel broke at the same point as bone. Bone is a rather hard thing to emulate, it would seem

I submitted mine--please, do share the results of your project when it's ready! Too often, these types of surveys come up and we never hear any more about it

Thanks Wastelander for the detailed in-depth advice as usual, much appreciated Regarding the side-facing stance, yes I do it to absorb strikes when I start to get tired and it happens invoulantry most of the times. It's not a tactical move at all, I am just stepping my very first few steps in the sparring world ! That's kind of what I figured. Since it's natural, you can try to adapt it to become a tactical component of your fighting, or you can try to override it with training. The choice is yours.

As JR mentioned, different arts are going to have different approaches to things, and they may all have valid reasoning for their differing opinions. Here are mine. 1. Depends--a lot of people do this by mistake, which is bad, but some people do it tactically, which can be useful. Most likely, you are doing it to absorb strikes? That can work fine, but you have to be aware of the different defensive and offensive pros and cons of the positioning you have chosen. Changing from a more square position to a side-on position can be beneficial for absorbing some strikes (especially kicks, in my experience), but it does put you in a position where you can't really utilize your normal rear-side tools, and leaves your back exposed. That said, it also gives you more reach with your lead-side tools, which can be useful, and it also sets you up for spinning techniques. Then, from the teaching perspective, as Dani pointed out, you can purposely put yourself in that position to condition your students to take advantage of openings, all the while working on your defense from an awkward position. 2. Depends on what your opponent does. If your opponent is a counter-fighter, you can probably just hang back and throw some feints to catch a breather. If they are more offensive, however, you will have to expend a lot of energy, either through evasive movement or thrust kicks, to maintain distance. Personally, in that situation, I look to grab a hold of my opponent and start using my kata techniques and Judo experience to smother and control. That can be exhausting, too, though, unless you're comfortable with doing it under pressure. 3. Essentially, your options are to stay out of their reach and try to get around them when they attack so you can counter, or close the gap to the point where they don't really have the space to do much of anything. Tai sabaki (and its lesser known component, tenshin) has already been mentioned, and is a very important tool in kumite. I've written about it rather recently on my site, actually, but to sum it up, you should not always move straight forward and straight back, on a level plane. You should try to move to angles, both offensively and defensively. You want to change your elevation, as well, and incorporate slight tilts in your body. These types of movements, at the right times, will help you avoid being hit, and will also allow you to get close enough to reach the taller fighter. You can also bait them to come closer by backing up just out of their reach, until they over-commit to an attack to try to catch you, at which point you can utilize evasion to get around their attack and counter while they are open. Bear in mind that there is no possible way to attack your opponent and NOT be open to some form of counter. The best you can do is minimize that possibility, and tai sabaki and tenshin are good ways of doing that. I also recommend attacking targets that are closer to you, such as the legs and body, more than the head, unless you can pull the head down (either by clinching, or pulling the arm, for example).

We do have a weekly grappling class in our dojo, as well as twice weekly "cardio kickboxing" classes, and we periodically hold yoga and meditation seminars. These things aren't super popular, but they do tend to bring in people that don't normally join the karate classes. If it works in your area, with your demographics, then it can definitely be beneficial. It's pretty easy to keep these things from "watering down" your karate, honestly.

Welcome to the forum! MMA is a fun challenge--I hope your training serves you well!

Congratulations to all!

Welcome to the forum!

Well, officially welcome!

Welcome to the forum!

That is very much a decision that is made on a school by school basis, and a student by student basis. Generally, unless it is a sparring class we don't have them hit bags or pads with gloves. Since we do wear gloves when we spar, for the most part, any bagwork or padwork we do leading up to it will be done with gloves, so students get a better feel for it before throwing strikes at a partner. We do sometimes spar without gloves, but it's simply not as safe, and when it comes down to it, we want students to be uninjured so they can keep training, so gloves are used the majority of the time for sparring. We also have students wear gloves for hitting things if they have injuries like torn or cut skin--they can tape it up and put a glove on to keep it from getting worse, but still train. Bone and connective tissue injuries are a different story--no contact, period, until your doctor clears you.

Private lessons are excellent for fine-tuning. If you want specific, detailed feedback and corrections on how to do your kata, or execute a technique, or move in sparring, etc., then it's an excellent resource! Also, if you can't make it to enough regular classes, or can't train with the level of contact you want in regular classes, they can be helpful, since your Sensei can adjust to fit you, and no one else. I would never tell someone to go with nothing but private lessons, though, as there is a lot to be gained from working with a variety of different partners on a regular basis

I think it's important to do both, to some degree. For example, we have traditional training tools like nigiri-game, chi-ishi, and the makiwara, but we also have a full Olympic weight set, dumbbells up to 85lbs, and two full sets of resistance bands with attachments. We train our kata in the traditional manner, but also in ladder formats, or for cardio, or HIIT, etc. We do drills for control, but also do a lot of hitting pads and bags. Tradition for tradition's sake isn't really a good idea in martial arts, in my opinion, unless you are supplementing it with proper, valuable methods.