wayneshin

I think it's more about size to population. Australia only has just over 20 million people. The U.S. has over 300 so our population centres are far more spread out.

Predominately logistics. Both times we opened new centres we had a solid student base to work with. Car parking!! Although there have been sufficient areas both on and off street for memebers/parent to park safely and legally there are those that persist in parking in inappropriate areas eg those set aside for neighboring businesses. The other would be the fit out. The costs for our latest dojo was somewhere in the order of $20,000 not including labour. There are always plenty of volunteers among the student body who want to be involved and have useful skills but channelling that and also make sure you are not taking advantage of them can be difficult. Luckily I had a Senior member of my club with far more "HOW TO" knowledge than I so I just told him what I wanted and he got it done.

My condolences to you and your family.

Are you referring to a kata known as Nijushiho Sho as distinct to the kata Nijushiho - which is generally included at an advanced level in most Shotokan syllabus.

Thnx mate but the credit really should go to my wife who was the driving force behind this and a number of other Karate Victoria innovations over the last few years (including the VKL). It was a good day though. I learnt plenty and loved the session your Instructor presented.

This is an exact quote from the current WKF rules. From memory it sits within the "explanation" section. The type of behaviour described by the OP was common in WKF in the 90s but has almost been stamped out.

Whenever we have had to change a schedule mid year communication and advance notice as the keys. We try to talk to as many of the affected people as possible and let them know what we are planning and if possible why you want to make the change. Ultimately you cant please everyone.

We review our schedule around September/October each year with a view to publishing next years schedule several months in advance. Generally the more advanced classes don't change too much. Changes at other times are rare.

We try to avoid getting other faces in there as these kids like routine. For example the Instructor always writes to schedule of the class on a whiteboard so the kids know what is next. She also has two sons who are both Jnr Black Belts. They both help out and the class is capped to keep it manageable.

We started such a class this year. One of my Black belts is a Psycologist specialising in working with autism. She is assisted by another who is studying to be a Psycologist. The class has been an enormous success - she has a waiting list. I conducted their first grading a couple of months ago and it was quite moving to see what these children can achieve when give the right support. Thats awesome! is the class dedicated to those just with Austism or is it open to those with Aspergers aswell (Going off the DSM-IV here, the DSM-V has it classified as Austism Spectrum Disorder). I would love to see how those classes are organised and run. It is a great thing to see how dojos run classes for those that would struggle with others. Because it is nice to see how they can feel a sense of belonging in a class so they can have fun and learn something + come out of their shells. Now that is truly special. The class is defined as "Additional Needs". My Instructor specialises in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Behavoural Disorders and Learning Difficulties. As I understand it Aspergers fits within the umbrella of ASD.

We started such a class this year. One of my Black belts is a Psycologist specialising in working with autism. She is assisted by another who is studying to be a Psycologist. The class has been an enormous success - she has a waiting list. I conducted their first grading a couple of months ago and it was quite moving to see what these children can achieve when give the right support.

We had Iain over to Australia for a week a couple of years ago and are hoping to do so again next year. He is pretty interesting. A combination of reinforcement of things I already knew, new stuff and certain elements of throws locks and holds that although I already knew hadn't really identified those moves in certain kata.

There's a lot of research out there on this subject matter but very little of it relates to Martial arts. The studies relate to reduced force generation of the muscle being stretched. This is regarding the agonist muscles(ie those generating the force). Because we need increased mobility our flexibility focuses on the antagonist muscles ( those resisting the movement eg hamstring in a front kick). There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that static Stretching pre exercise can increase risk of injury by weakening the antagonist muscle.) Most now seem to follow the pathway of using dynamic stretching in the warm up (some of the more enlightened also use myofascial release pre warm up ). Static stretching is left till after class. However some leading S & C coaches are now suggesting Static stretching should be done cold to gain increases in mobility. My head hurts just trying to keep up.

Pinan and Heian are the same series of kata. They were developed by Antoku Itosu and many variations have developed. Both words mean Peaceful mind (okinawan and Japanse respectively). Gichin Funakoshi developed the Heian version and swapped Shodan and Nidan to reflect the order in which they are normally taught.

Not holding my breath on this although I am quite involved in WKF competition. We have been down this path too many times. Our best hope to beat baseball is the inclusion of kata will almost guarantee Japan one or more Gold medals.

There are plenty of commercial school out there delivering quality karate. Just as there are non profit enterprises teaching rubbish. Ultimately I think it is about making decisions about curriculum, gradings and the like for purely commercial reasons.

Thought I'd add in mine. Commenced 1978 Shodan-Ho 1982 Shodan 1986 Nidan 1992 Sandan 1996 Yondan 2014 Continuous training/teaching etc in that time.

I have many Arawaza including 2 Onyx Evolution. They do not shrink. I am approx 184cm and 94kg. I wear a Size 6 (190). I do not compete but coach extensively under WKF rules. My gi is a good lentgh for my legs but perhaps 1 or 2 centimtres too long in the arms (It goes just past the bend on my wrist.) You are slightly taller than me so Size 6 (190) might be OK for you.

There are always students who take up more of our time and energy. Children with ADHD, autism etc. Often they are the ones who need us most.

The WKF (World Karate Federation) World Championships are as follows, 2015 Junior Worlds Jakarata, Indonesia - 12-15 November 2016 Senior Worlds Linz, Austria - 27-30 October. Both events are run every 2nd year.

Ankle braces are a great tool for assistance in stabilization especially after an injury. But the concern is that it is masking the issue of ankle issues and these actually increase the risk of knee injuries. So you would need to work on ankle stability as a weaker ankle joint leads to an increased risk of injury especially with kicks. This is spot on. Ankle support can help while the ankle is injured but will on make the problem worse long term because the joint will lose its ability to stabilise itself. Further restricting an ankles mobility will lead to placing stress on other joints such as the knee. You need to improve the proprioception in your ankle (This is the ability of the stretch receptors to respond to instability and return the joint to its correct position). It can certainly be trained. Start with a wobble board (tape a tennis ball to the side of a hard cover book) and while watching TV just place your foot on the board and roll it gently from side to side. Single leg stand. Just lift one foot off the ground. You can move your arms to increase difficult (eg do some blocks and punches) This should quickly become easy. Single leg jumps. Jump on to one foot and land without any extra hopping. Start small and as you get more confident you can increase distance and angle. You can also increase difficult by adding a punch as you land. The last step is to start landing on an unstable surface (This is for advanced only) I have just brought some BOSU balls for my advanced students but prior to that we just used kick shields and focus pads.

When fighting in mirror stance (right versus left handed) lines/angles of attack change, some techniques and combinations have reduced chance of success while others come into play. In general left handers understand this better than right because they deal with it more often.

It was more of a chain of events than anything else. My wife had been running a program in a school in the area of our 2nd location. She was approached by a group of parents to open in the area. At the time our main centre was running Mon-thurs so Friday was available. Opening the 2nd night (Thursday) was a bigger call. We adjusted our timetable so only advanced students train onThursday night (they are more likely to need access to me. The beginner/inter more with my wife) The main thing is making sure you don't diminish your service to your existing students.

In a manner of speaking. My wife and I run 2 locations. One is a fully equipped facility. The other is 2 nights a week in a school hall. They are about 10km apart. Close enough that the advanced students at the smaller school supplement their training at the larger school. My wife teaches 3 nights at the large school and 2 at the other. It is a little different for us because we are 2 but we are facing a similar dilemma in that the smaller school is in a larger growth area and if we could devote more time to it would certainly expand. But at what cost. How thin can you spread yourself before quality suffers. Training and development of Instructors is important and helps but you still need to maintain a strong element of control.

I've got some ideas. I'll send you a PM