ChristianeHigashi

there is no real answer to this IMO. It's taken me almost 5 years to get 3rd kyu brown belt which i got a few days back..im 18 now & i've worked pretty darn hard for that, trained hard, not missed a grading, passed all of my gradings with a 1st class pass & i do Higashi (wado) I went to a shotokan club for a few weeks and i was shocked to see kids under 12 with 2nd and 3rd brown belts that had little to no solid technique,, i asked them out of curiosity how long they have been training and they said a year-2 years.. People seem to be handing out black belts like theres no tomorrow which 100% takes the meaning from the BB. It's probably going to take me another 2-4 years until i get mine if i keep the training up & then i'll be proud to have it because i will know ive earned that from a good few years of dedication and hard work. i wouldnt have it any other way.

we do a lot of kata where I train and practice it every session But i know other clubs around here don't do as much of it or none at all which is a shame. We are told that every move is against an attacker.. this makes us think a lot more about the placement of the block or strike. I dont think kata can be broke down too simply.. Eg. Pinan Shodan [not the best but thats the closest to my the style i do that i can find on youtube]The first move [not including the look] could be two strikes or, two blocks or one of each & its the same for most moves. So I think until you reach a senior grade you won;t fully understand it all, theres a lot to take in. I think the understanding of it all comes in time. As for musical kata, i think its absolute crap. 99% of that stuff is in no way, shape or form karate.

Nice to see everyones amazing responses. I trained with Peter Spanton! for 2 days last month. he came to Wales from London. I've had the pleasure to get taught by him before but now that i'm older i realize how much of a big deal it is. Such an amazing experience. We trained ona thursday night 7-8.30 and over 20 dan grades showed up which was awesome & a fair few kyu grades [inc me] lots of difficult combinations etc and then saturday was an all day course. Absolutely amazing would never say no to an opportunity to train with him. MACHINE! aha

I'm only 18 but i take training super serious.. My instructors will only allow kids from 6 years and up to join the club. yes they mess about but there are enough of us more serious folk to concentrate on what we have to do and our dojo is huge anyways so its little to no bother & we all started somewhere. the thing that annoys me most is another purple belt, younger than myself, in the line im in messing around. now thats irritating

I think that gi looks silly and defeats the purpose of a karate gi. they're made the way they are for a purpose x

Clue is in the title share your experiences

Style: Higashi Karate (wado) Grade: Purple belt Twice a week for an hour and a half. Would love to do more but our instructors live a busy life & there isn't another higashi club for about 50+ miles. I do the occasional trainign sesh with sensei Pete Spanton a few times a year though.

I just uploaded a video of me doing kata 3 years ago. It makes me cringe now because it's so bad! Hopefully i've improved a lot. low quality

http://www.blitzsport.com/Adult-Polycotton-Student-Karate-Suit?sc=9&category=11148 thats about the best in my opinion. i've used these for 5 years. Do the job and inexpensive x

http://www.blitzsport.com/Adult-Polycotton-Student-Karate-Suit?sc=9&category=11148 thats about the best in my opinion. i've used these for 5 years. Do the job and inexpensive x

I did this at last nights training session and they both recommended the white diamond or silver tournament & in the past I have ordered my gi through both of them so I'll probably do that to save a bit of cash x

For a first gi i'd recommenda standart BLITZ gi or STandard polycotton BLITZ as that one is less likely to shrink. Nice gis. http://www.blitzsport.com/Adult-Polycotton-Student-Karate-Suit?sc=9&category=11148 Im 18/female and I take a size 3/160

For a first gi i'd recommenda standart BLITZ gi or STandard polycotton BLITZ as that one is less likely to shrink. Nice gis. http://www.blitzsport.com/Adult-Polycotton-Student-Karate-Suit?sc=9&category=11148 Im 18/female and I take a size 3/160

I think everyone here will mention their own style.. because I know i'd recommend the style i do. I think it's a lot more disciplined than others. I've been training for 5-6 years and i'm still a purple belt & i like it that way. I've had all 1st class passes so it's not like i;ve failed a grading before. in Higashi it does take a long while to get up there with the big people but when yo do you know you are ready to be. In the gradings you will have to fight as it's on the syllabus but it isn't full contact fighting. you just have ti be able to show that you know how to block and attack effectively etc. Higashi is a small organization but it does work under the WKF. It is a more hard hitting & effective version of wado ryu.. every move has a good purpose. I've done shotokan too but i couldnt find much sense in the moves, thisis why im a Higashi addict <3 xx

I couldnt agree more. as I said i am only an 18 year old purple belt but if i see that crap take over i'll be more than bummed out. its a martial art not dancing or gymnastics.

As a purple belt im not really one to make a big comment but in every karate competition I have been in, i haven;t seen this terribly awful crap. i've been to british opens, higashi/wado opens but only in britain. there is no twirly, flippy stuff just solid styles that are effective. I might be bias because i am a higashi student but in my opinion it's all about technique and effectiveness of the moves. I don't really like this thought of spins, flips etc because thats more "entertainment" than martial art in my opinion. but this seems to be the overall thing in britain. not to much stuff incorporating XMA or anything of that sort. you should check out some british competitions even if it's on youtube. check out this youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/joetully go to the bottom of the list for all of the karate videos. this is good karate in my opinion. not over done altered stuff

I'm looking to get a new karate gi at the moment but i really don't know what to get! All i've ever worn is the standard BLITZ cotton gi but i find it shrinks so fast! i started back to karate 2 and a half months ago and it's shrunk incredible amounts so I want to get a new one that but id love to stay with Blitz or go to adidas. I've been looking at the diamond blitz suit, the silver tournament gi and the polycotton original. only problem i have is i don't want to look too "look at me" i just want a nice durable, comfortable gi for training and competition as I am only an 18 year old purple belt.. any info would be much appreciated

i had the problem of not curling my toes back.. still do sometimes but apparently we can all bend out toes back far enough to do a successful mai gerri. my problem was i was going more of a kin geri. i was bringing it straight from the floow.. you might be the same and you might not notice it like i do but try and bring your leg up first you your knee joint is level with your hip horizontaly then extend from the knee down.. this automatically gave my toes a bend {:

Sounds like you need a whole lot more control. remember you are an orange belt.. i know your new to it all but still.. you talk like you can handle karate so handle yourself and dont kick kids in the face 5 times

We use oss in my dojo. mainly for when our sensei/instructor calls us out so he can show us how a moves works and what it's for.. after we complete it we bow and say "oss" then go back to lines. we don;t have to but some of us do. I do wado/ higashi karate

Thanks for all the feedback and opinions feeling a bit better and hoping to show im still up to standard. this is the man that i'll be training with for 3 days http://www.higashi.org.uk/ChiefInstructorPro.htm frighteningly good.

Hello everyone new here.. purple belt in higashi karate kai and trainign in South Wales. Just wondering how everyone feels about training with a chief instructor? I recently started back to karate and have 2 courses with the main man of higashi, Peter Spanton. I get creeped out as soon as i find out about a course with him! the man is a machine but every second of the training session is amazing and you learn a load of stuff. Its brutal but so worth it. i've trained with him before but it was about 5 years ago and in that session im pretty sure he nocked a man out by the sharpest knife had I have ever seen! Anyone had this experience yet? do you get too afraid to breath too? hah

What i hate the most is the that are graded past orange belt that STILL TALK. frustrating as hell whilst you're in line doing basics. Were encouraged to communicate whilst doing other things but not in lines.. and it gets so blinking irritating when they talk and don;t hold a stance.

If it were at my dojo.. a kick in the face would be nothing bad because the kid shouldnt have moved.. karate comes with responsibility and discipline... the kid should know that but 5 time? it wouldn't be acceptable

Hello ! im new here. 18 year old female, training with Higashi Karate Kai and love every second of it! curious.. How do you change the colour of your belt in the avatar thingy? or is that just a thing that changes as you post more? x