Wastelander

Thank you for this. I am very interested in competing, but more so looking for progression to being a well-rounded fighter. I do find myself lacking skill when it comes to combat on the ground, so BJJ makes a lot of sense. I'll do a little more research on BJJ. Thanks. Is BJJ the best option to hone my grappling/ground skills? If so, what are other styles that come in a close second or third? BJJ/judo/wrestling would serve you the best for that purpose.

In less than a year you have gotten back to the point you were at 10 years ago, without any training in between, and you're already going to be allowed to test for blackbelt? That's an impressive statement, to say the least! To answer your question, I would really prefer you answer mine; what is your martial arts goal? If you want to compete in MMA then the answer of "what meshes well with Shotokan" is going to be totally different than if you want to preserve Japanese martial arts culture. In general, Shotokan's deep stances should make combining it with wrestling fairly easy, and the quick, in-and-out point sparring that is often found in Shotokan translates well to most competitive striking sports (Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, etc.). Just know that if you start cross-training you are going to have some things that aren't going to mesh well, and you're going to have to find a middle ground or change how you do something, no matter what art you choose.

Congratulations! Tournaments are a great way to meet people, see how well you are progressing and see some neat stuff! That said, there are definitely some issues with tournaments, these days. The "XTREME" presentations are definitely getting out of hand, both with the yelling, the overly aggressive posturing and the flashy forms. The tendency to play to that "XTREME" is probably why you are seeing less variety in weapons, too--I think bo, nunchaku, kama and sword are the most popular in tournaments because they are very flashy. It's hard to be flashy with sai or nunti. It's good to hear that your tournament actually had some contact, though!

That looks like a combination of Taikyouku Ichi, Nii and San, but with the spinning turns from the Pinan kata.

I go through them a couple times a week helping the lower ranks, and every now and then the higher ranks will run through all the kata from kihon kata up. That said, which kihon kata? Different styles have different kihon kata and some even consider kihon kata something completely different from what other styles consider it.

Natural fabrics (cotton, hemp, wool, etc.) do not melt, artificial fabrics do. Contact the manufacturer.

Personally, I feel that techniques done with stick weapons (bo, jo, escrima, tekko, eiku, etc.) are still pretty applicable as they can be used with just about anything of a similar shape/size--sticks, shovels, mop handles, flashlights, etc. There are some weapons like kama that, while more obscure, can still be useful. What if you have to defend yourself with a weapon and the nearest thing at hand is a hammer? Well, those kama techniques still work with a hammer to some degree. Really, you can find some value in every weapon, but some are much more valuable than others and your personal philosophy is going to have more impact on what weapons you train than anything.

Well, the founder of Wado-Ryu trained with Gichin Funakoshi at some point, if I remember correctly, and I don't think they put a whole lot of emphasis on the study of bunkai but I could be wrong--there are some Wado-Ryu stylists that will likely come around and be able to give you more detail on the stylistic differences between Wado-Ryu and Shotokan. As far as the belt goes you should ask the instructor. Most people on here will tell you to wear a white belt, which makes sense because you do not have any rank in Wado-Ryu, but I think it is best to ask the instructor. The instructor may want you to wear a white belt, or your black belt, or maybe something in between because you aren't a black belt in Wado-Ryu but you also aren't a white belt level practitioner of karate, in general. Have a white belt on hand and ask the instructor what they would prefer.

I've torn a few modern 14oz karate gi's, but we include grappling techniques in our karate so that does somewhat change what we need in a uniform. The modern lightweights might last longer than old-school heavyweights, but modern heavyweights still outlast modern lightweights. Besides, lightweight ones always look like you're wearing a wet sheet over your shoulders--I, personally, look pretty sickly when I wear a lightweight one

No problem--I'm glad it worked well for you! Just keep an eye out for wearing holes in your boxer briefs

We have the following belts: White Yellow Orange Purple Blue Green Brown (Sankyu-Ikkyu) Black In between each belt there is a "training belt" that is the color of the next belt but with a white stripe down the middle--only children get those, though.

First of all, you most certainly are grappling with people quite often in karate--what else do you think you are pulling your hand back to your hip for, and what exactly do you think your other hand is doing when one of them is striking or blocking with your knife hand, for example? In addition, strong muscles, ligaments and tendons in the hands will help prevent injuries while striking because those are the things holding your bones in place when you punch.

Oh my--this could be one heck of a can of worms! I'm almost afraid to respond for fear I'll get in trouble, haha. I'm only a brown belt with 5 years of training, so I'm not exactly in any position to make decisions on what should be changed but RIGHT NOW I think I would probably change the curriculum to be more in-line with my current way of thinking and training. It could certainly change as I learn more and train more, though. If I had to make changes right now, I would probably cut down on the number of kata and change which kata were in the curriculum. I have been known to be a bit of a "kata collector" in the past, so I've experienced kata outside of my current system to pull from. The kata that I find the most value in (right now) are Empi Sho, the three Naihanchi kata, Seiunchin, Passai (probably a blend of Sho and Dai) and Kusanku (again, probably a blend of Sho and Dai). Other than that, I would just want to put more emphasis on open-handed techniques and incorporating grappling and striking together.

Ah, I see now. This is a Shorin Ryu organization. Looks like they write it Shido-kan to differentiate themselves. Shorin Ryu is one of the main Okinawan karate styles and is very interesting and can be quite effective. okay awesome! That is exactly what I was hoping for any pointers for a first timer? Relax, pay close attention to how you move and how the sensei moves, feel free to take notes if that helps you and be aware that you are going to probably be pretty worn out afterward. Shorin-ryu tends to have more natural stances than, for example, Shotokan, but even so you will probably end up with wobbly legs eventually (especially because they seem to be very kick-oriented from the link you provided).

But there could be--when you run it try pivoting around 180 degrees on every step where you cross your feet and it makes things interesting

For a long time I threw on one of these (http://www.amazon.com/XO-Supporter-Pro-Flex-Cup/dp/B001WTVYEO) over my underwear and threw on compression shorts over it all. That kept me comfortable and safe for 4 years until I wore out the supporter, so now I do the same thing without the supporter--underwear, cup, compression shorts. As long as the underwear has long enough legs I don't have a problem with chafing.

With a lot of the comparatively younger Shihan, I would agree with this. A lot of the senior instructors who have been with Kyokushin since day one are quite different though. Our organization's top instructor trained first under Shigeru Oyama and later Sosai Oyama and we train lots of different applications, especially those from Tensho kata. Good to hear! My only experience with Kyokushin has been a mudansha student who had been out of it a while and came into our dojo to train, and then training with a Nidan.

It produces very tough, fit fighters and is a strong style, overall. There isn't enough emphasis on bunkai a lot of the time for my personal tastes but there's nothing wrong with that, really.

I have also been taught the sliding version and a shuffling version, and I do tend to use both of those a lot more often in sparring than the stepping side kick unless I really need to plow through somebody with the kick and want the extra wind up and distance.

Kataaro will make custom belts, although they are in the US

The same amount I would be paying for training, so technically I don't get paid but I don't have to pay, either. I also get $10 or $20 when I teach a private lesson to one of the beginner kids but that doesn't happen very often (obviously, since I can't remember if it was $10 or $20 )

A couple months ago I was sparring my sensei and apparently I hold my guard too high when I switch to southpaw because he snuck in a punch to my liver while stepping past me. That hurt but would have been fine if he hadn't done it two more times and the third one drilled me so hard I dropped and rolled around for a while in pain. Good times

There are going to be differences in every dojo because different instructors are going to emphasize different concepts. Some instructors are very open to other styles and ideas and others aren't. In general I can say that, yes, Shorin-Ryu emphasizes evasion, speed, natural stances and punching with a twist to the 45* angle. The structure is difficult to say because some instructors are more concerned about what you're doing than how you do it. I can say that many styles of karate will do kakie (the thing similar to chi sau) and some will even include lop sau, but it's all up to the instructor and what they have experience with and what concepts they like.

I would recommend checking out any of the schools you are interested in and watching classes there, because our experiences may not be the same as what you will experience. I can say that Shuri-Ryu gave me solid basics (hand strikes, kicks, stances, etc.) and very good control over my techniques. Shorin-Ryu has been more focused on the applications of the kata we practice and more advanced concepts, but I had already been training in martial arts for a while when I started Shorin-Ryu and my strong basics from Shuri-Ryu carried over.

We do some forearm and shin conditioning in class, but not a whole lot--most of us who want to get that conditioning do it outside of class or between classes either with the makiwara, wooden dowels or hitting each other . As for treating the area, Thai Oil is almost nothing but Wintergreen Oil, which is already in Icy Hot and not all that good for you in large quantities. I use Fighter Fix.