Ueshirokarate

It is totally uneccessary. Saying chudan zuki perfectly will not help you deliver a punch in any way. Many people have learned the art without any speaking at all.

The human body and how it moves has not changed in 200 years. What has changed is how we study and train it. Kata is as valuable a training tool today as it was 200 years ago. I respect those who prefer to train without it. However, I fail to see any difference between drilling a series of moves and doing a kata: They are essentially the same exact thing. You and your instructors either know there training modalities inside and out or not. Sandbag training was perceived as an antiquated technology just a decade or two ago.

First, what are your goals? It sounds like you just do stuff on a whim with no goal or game plan to reach them. If you are 250lbs of solid muscle, but never trained a day in your life in karate, you will have much different goals than a person who is 160lbs and has a black belt. Once you develop a goal, you can then spend time developing a plan to reach them. Don't go by how others train. Don't imitate their programs. Go figure out exactly what you want out of your training and then come back for ideas on training that will get you there. Do you want to get faster? Do you need to work on your balance? Are you carrying too much fat? Are you too skinny and weak, big and strong or just want to grow your muscle mass a bit? Lastly, you need to also give your body time to rest and repair itself. This is a very important part of training.

Yeah, I would also like to find someone to drill moves with. Too bad you live so far.

Just worry about being better than you were last time you were on the deck in some way each time you step on it.

Personally, I would pick one or two techniques a week and drill them to death with another student. I have nothing but good things to say about this book: http://www.amazon.com/Jiu-Jitsu-University-Saulo-Ribeiro/dp/0981504434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342560634&sr=8-1&keywords=brazilian+jujitsu I wouldn't do more than three techniques in a week and would lean toward only mastering one. If you do one technique a week for a year, you will become proficient in 40-50 moves and probably pretty tough to roll with.

Being good at something does not necessarily make you a good teacher. However, it sure does help. I believe that the primary requirement for instructing anything is your knowledge of the subject, the second requirement would be that you can transfer that knowledge to someone efficiently. These two skills are all that matter in my opinion. So to teach, I would work to hone these two skills. Find your own instructor and always bee a student. Even if it is remote learning. Here is a good book on teaching martial arts: http://ymaa.com/publishing/books/external/martial_arts_instruction

Solid post! I don't get contracts. I can see a discount for paying for a year, but only as an option along side of month to month (I especially like the option to pay for class). Contracts are a huge red flag to me. I am not against people making money off teaching, but do not like entrapment. Secondly, rank should be earned and not bought. I think this is why it is important to view classes. You need to be able to see what is taught, how it is taught and if the various belts people are wearing reflect varying levels of skill in the style. Good points all around evergrey. I am going to bite my tongue on George Dillman and his chi balls.

Best advice in choosing a school is to visit all the martial arts schools in your area and watch a few classes of the ones you like the most. You shouldn't concern yourself with style, whether it is BJJ or karate, etc. The single most important thing is how do you like the people and how the instructors teach. You can then narrow it down by style, organizational affiliation, etc. And I would certainly follow the advice of goggling any dojo you like, as well as that style and leadership. However, the chemistry of the place for you should be the first thing you consider.

At the end of the day, you need to make your own decisions. Personally, I hate wearing a cup but wouldn't think of not wearing one when sparring even with a child. Why take unnecessary chances?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/martial_in_town_Yw20ab3sAg9QnYH53Mx4AO Great story. I wonder how many of us (probably all) at one point have thought about doing something like this if the opportunity presented itself, no matter the martial art we study.

Any of you have experience with buying this stuff online? There seems to be a bewildering selection of vendors and types out there on the web. I have a decent one that works well for bruising and moderately well all around. I would like one that works best fro swelling, muscle and tendon/joint/ligament pain, etc.

I think the only time you should "change" your diet for a tournament would be if you are trying to make weight either up or down. If that is the case, 4 weeks to change is way too short a period of time to do so healthfully other than a couple of pounds either way at most. Other than that, eat as healthy as you can all the time.

This question could be asked in the training section, but it is only about karate training specifically. I am wondering how long you guys train hard. I mean do you have marathon 3-4 hour sessions of hard karate training (deep static stances, deep knee bends, lots of push-ups, etc, etc.)? Say do this 4-6 days per week, etc.? Do you guys that train like this, do it year round?

What about defending against common attacks from other methods of fighting, i.e. Judo throws, Muay Thai kicks or elbow techniques, etc.

What are you trying to say? That I am a senile old man???? Point of fact though, it was only 22 years ago that I started karate.

Ribeiro's book makes it clear that at our level, we should be focusing on just escapes as white belts. That is pretty much what I have been working on. The upper belts in my school are very skilled and do justice to their belts. It is a challenge to work on the escapes. Yes, you'll like Saulo's book. Survive...that's your only job right now. Survive and learn. Yes, been looking at it almost every day for almost two months. It is a great book and I am totally overwhelmed at how much I need to learn. I guess I felt the same way when I was a white belt in karate.

It is interesting that you raise the issue of the philosophy of a martial art and I think you are generally right. For me though, when moving between, say, Wado Ryu, Shotokan, Goju or Shito and Shorin Ryu to name just a few, where the philosophy is largely the same with the same origins, then the only real difference is the technical art. To be in harmony with your style is something that can be transfered in my opinion. I do agree that its not all about just learning kata and technique but if you are ready for progression, serving time shouldn't matter but there are a lot of clubs out there where quick prgression generally means less revenue. If I'm honest, I would prefer there to be no coloured belt system because I think the attainment of a colour quite often becomes more important than the journey and is also a good way of 'selling' the way to those who don't choose to go and find it for themselves. Where he goes is not a commercial dojo. I am sure the Shihan will make exceptions of time in grade if he is very skilled and works hard.

Ribeiro's book makes it clear that at our level, we should be focusing on just escapes as white belts. That is pretty much what I have been working on. The upper belts in my school are very skilled and do justice to their belts. It is a challenge to work on the escapes.

I wouldn't worry about it, let your actions on the deck reflect your skill and knowledge. Focus on perfecting your katas. If you feel strongly about advancing quickly through the ranks, I would speak directly with your Shihan. You are training in a very old school system that was started by Okinawans who were born into karate traditions and really studied under some of the biggest names in Shuri-Te, so you are learning the real stuff that is pretty much undiluted in any way from what is taught on Okinawa. We have several students that hold very high rank in other styles or systems in our dojo. This is actually a negative at times, as old habits are hard to change and there is always style creep when they are doing kata. I recently started also training in BJJ and I am a white belt with one stripe in the system. I am thrilled to be a white belt again, as there is so much breathing room and no pressure to be an example to anyone. That said, I think rank should reflect your skill level (within THAT style). If you know the curriculum and have the skill to demonstrate it, then you should be that rank. For better or worse, that is not the case in most traditional Okinawan styles. So you either need to change where you are training, have a heart to heart with your Shihan about your desire to move up quicker, or humble yourself and deal with the way things are. This is advice I need to listen to sometimes myself.

Jiu Jitsu University is the only book on the subject I have. I typically go to class each week and we all learn several techniques together from our instructor. I find it difficult to add more than one technique from the book in class per week or two. I am one who really likes to get something down before moving on. What makes it difficult, is that in randori, you are either in a position to apply something or you are not. There is so much truth and wisdom in this post that applies to all martial arts: Every sport and every martial art always comes down to fundamentals. Fancy techniques can work when someone who is a master of the fundamentals is fighting someone, but they are already absolute masters of the fundamentals and stay that way through always practicing the fundamentals over and over and over again.

In a class...never.

There is a lot of good content on Youtube.

It is very old school Okinawan training. A heavy emphasis on kata and tradition. If you stick with it till at least San Kyu rank, you will grow to appreciate the value of the method of training greatly. Of course, the dojos are all one tight knit family if you will. Really good people train in the system.

All depends on the system. This is a slight exaggeration, but Shorin Ryu is almost as broad as the term karate. Best thing to do is check with the school you are training at. Even the Matsubayashi branch of Shorin Ryu varies widely from system to system. But in your system, you can find rank requirements in the Scaglione Red book and get an idea here: http://midtownkaratedojo.com/DojoKata.html Great school you joined by the way! You can look forward to some of the best Okinawan Karate training in the country.