mal103

Traditional Shotokan Please excuse spellings... 10th Kyu White - Kihon Kata - think this is the same as Taikyoku 9th Kyu Orange - Heian (Pinan) Shodan 8th Kyu Red - Heian Nidan 7th Kyu Yellow - Heian Sandan 6th Kyu Green - Heian Yondan 5th Kyu Purple - Heian Godan 4th Kyu Purple + 1 Stripe - Tekki Shodan (Naihanchi) 3rd Kyu Brown - Bassai Dai 2nd Kyu Brown + 1 - Bassai Dai (but better!) 1st Kyu Brown + 2 - Enpi or Hangetsu Shodan - All above Nidan - Chinte, Tekki Nidan, Kanku Dai, Jion, Jitte, Jiin Sandan - Kandu Sho, Sochin, Nijushiho, Tekki Sandan, Bassai Sho, Meikyo and the rest of the 26 Kata in the Shotokan style...

Up to you, depend what you want to achieve. If you don't breath properly or are not that fit then bouncing about during sparring is just wasting your energy. I do both depending on how I feel and on the opponent, light on your toes you can make the odd false move or swap legs, jump forwards etc, this can try to catch your opponent off guard and create an opening for you. You can also just stand and wait - wait for your opponent to move and then react, or until you see an opening then strike. Sometimes if I have a good opponent I will keep moving to keep them guessing. Welcome to the forum by the way...

It's true to say that you get lazyness at all ages, we get a constant stream of wannabe's who want a Black belt at any cost so long as they don't have to work hard, you are normally the ones who miss lots of training and then come twice a week near the grading. Another trick is to just work them harder, if they come back they are serious....

I once had a dad ask why his daughter wasn't taking part properly when he turned up at the end of the lesson, I had been trying to get her moving faster for 50 minutes but had given up and given her lesser Kihon to do. I replied something about her probably being tired... I have a few that need pushing, then pushing some more, but still won't shift! I won't give up on them until they give up. My latest plan with a few of mine is to give them single move Kihon or just stepping, until they are bored rigid. Then I will give the rest of the class something fun to do and tell them to sit out as they are obviously tired. If they are wasting everyones time then don't spend anymore than you have to on them until they show some fire/spirit! Another option is to try and find a senior grade that they are friendly with and set them up as a mentor, ask the senior grade to train next to them and assist them, at least they will be able to witness close up how fast others train. Get them shouting or try some other tricks to get them going, free sparring, breaking out of a corner, resistance with belt holding, a form of competition. Anything to try and bring out the tiger.

good post, in our Dan grades we drive them beyond where they want to give up - without trying to kill them! If they give in too easy they will fight the same way, but definitely stay a Brown belt.

The best training you will ever get is to end the night in a soaked Gi, a few bruises and only a few quid/dollars lighter. The "Sensei" would have had as much fun training/teaching you that you had learning/teaching them. I have 25 odd students, most are wanting to be the next Bruce Lee with no effort, some are just waiting for their excuse to give up but the few left are worth all the effort in teaching and will be life long students of the arts and better people, they will teach me and inspire me to show them what I have learnt so far. Keep looking, a good Shotokan school would be my recommend, but only if they step outside the box - seek what your past masters sought and don't just replicate there standard syllabus.

Good points, I was with a shipmate in Italy in the dockyard area going back to our Sub, there were 4 guys ahead who looked like business, my mate nudged me and put his hand inside his jacket glaring at the first couple of guys. The result was a stand down from them all initiated by the lead guy, thinking that they may have caught a nasty fish in their net. Shortly afterwards my mate was shaking with a beer in hand stating that he had gambled with it but it paid off, showing confidence and the thought of having concealed weopons was enough to put these guys off, there was no other way round. I have lived in London and been to the worst parts, acting confidently but not over the top does work, if you act like a victim then some lion will take a bite. On another occasion in the USA we were service men ashore getting drunk when some man mountain told us that we should leave due to being drunk, another shipmate of mine literally got up from the floor and read this massive guy the riot act that he served in wars and was having a drink and should be left alone as he wasn't hurting anyone... the big guy faded away due to the over confidence of the reaction. If I was to be scared of anyone it should be the big guy or quiet guy, but normally the focus is on the confident or noisey guy who looks like he "WILL" react. 10 people holding a knife, you should be afraid of the one who looks like he will use it rather than the biggest or meanest looking.

Fair point Patrick, the topic does bring out strong emotions... From the Karate point of view then it's easy to say that we should show restraint and not hit first etc but this was an attack and a very nasty attack that will get even the most mild mannered person enraged so I can't really blame you for hitting him. I would like to say that I would show restraint, walk away and all of that but in all honesty I think I would have done exactly the same. I commend you for keeping it to one hit and stopping after the first hit did the job. This is a classic example of Karate has no first attack/strike, the attack had begun even though he wasn't punching/kicking, who's to know if that wasn't a fient for a prolonged attack, you were justified in responding.

First off - congratulations!!! Well deserved. If you wait until you "think" you are ready then you will never be ready... We have a few that panic during gradings, hopefully something that they will get over or grow out of. We assess them during normal lessons so if they lose it on the day we are happy that they can do it. These are only mid level Kyu grades, we can't continue this routine as Purple/Brown belts also need to be seen doing a good job. Someone asked why our Sandan did less work than I did when we graded (me going for Nidan), the Chief Instructor explained that Sandan was more about the MAist with less technical work needed, more about attitude and commitment. Well done!

A test of a good black belt is to hit you just hard enough to let you know you have been hit but do no damage. That's why sparring with brown belts is sometimes dangerous as if they get a good punch through it can hurt their opponent because they have put full power behind it.

Self defence drills are ok if done at speed but you must also do sparring. This is vital for reflexes and responding to any attack. We normally build them up to free sparring and its all done with light contact to avoid injury, we add pad work to practice full power. If i got hit fully by a few of our guys then i would be in serious trouble. Also consider the attack, its great if someone announces they are going to a stepping punch to your head and then wait until you apply a tricky sd technique... then consider 3 blokes attacking at close range, you need to move quickly on your feet, react fast and look for an opening to counter hard. There will be no time to think.

Thanks all, naturally I don't feel worthy to be among the others here but feel grateful to be asked. I'm glad people enjoy my ramblings!

How true... I remember if a policeman called you were then in deep trouble twice, now most people would call it harassment! Thanks for all comments, it's amazing how many kids expect to grade automatically because they have turned up most weeks, regardless of effort. I will do my best to listen to them, remind them that it's a Martial Art and includes effort and contact - as a Sensei - then ensure that I will do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again - as they are customers...

Should martial artist be considered a lethal weapon? Depends on who practices it, for how long and how effective they become. Someone can do Karate (for example) for 20 years and still not be able to fight effectively, or be willing to use violence. Someone can be naturally aggressive and practice a MA for a short time and be quite lethal. When you get to a more advanced level you may start to unravel the "hidden" self defence techniques or to start learning pressure points and vulnerable areas. Normally by this stage you also understand the non-agressive side of being a MA.

On the plus side I have around 20 dedicated students who make it more than worthwhile - even one would do this. A few just seem to be waiting for their excuse to stop training as it was too this or too that...

So you do your best - get insurance, get Police checks done, get first aid trained, walk a million miles delivering leaflets to your Dojo, research the best hall in the best location on the best night, spend a lot of time earning nothing to build up the new clubnight, appoint a child protection officer to deal with any serious problems, bend over backwards to keep everyone pleased, constantly research your Art/Style and keep up your own training to provide the best teaching. Then you get a few complaints! One was because we trained several minutes after the end time and their daughter was tired (after putting no effort in another 7 minutes shouldn't have made any difference...) Next was a moan from another mother/daughter that I had given them something outside of their syllabus and they couldn't deal with it - we often push students with more complicated stuff to stretch their minds a bit and see how they cope. To top the lot a complaint about someones daughter who's forearms were a bit painful after training, we were doing some pad work as we had to use a smaller hall, after a load of strikes/kicks I wanted to demonstrate the blocks being used as forearm smashes. The person that took the initial complaint has already suggested we wrap them in cotton wool next time... We are expecting another as we have some students with "issues" that we try our best to cater for, one of these ended up messing about last lesson and ended up being sat out for the last 10 minutes. I am thinking of getting an adult only class setup to run after one of my normal classes so we can seperate the kids as that's where the problems seem to be. It also seems that for the last few weeks I may as well have been speaking another language as some students aren't taking much notice of my teaching/guideance. I still get great feedback but there are some who seem to only go through the motions for 50 minutes a week and then moan at you! Does anyone else have times like these?

Good post! Thanks for sharing, in addition we have used another couple of drills, one is pushing a partner or a wall - they naturally drop into lower stance to get more power. The other is holding the belt to provide resistance - the partner must get lower and push into the stance to get anywhere.

That's quite a jump, we have a huge amount of technical kata and other stuff needed for Nidan that i'm surprised of your double grade but also pleased if someone has recognised your effort. Well done!

Any serious instructor should happily show you their crb/dbs cert and may have done child protection awareness courses. I'm going against the grain with the others - 5 year olds have no place in a proper dojo. They are in danger of turning into kids clubs, great if you can separate and have kids only classes but as i am teaching more i realise how much they disrupt the lesson. We end up being extended parents and lose valuable minutes controlling them while the rest have to wait. Look out for some kids programs as they can be expensive or they add several gradings.

Very different in the front... So long as you don't get "used" to teach beginners long term then it's always a good experience to be out front now and again. You soon realise that the students become your mirrors so you have to ensure you are perfect! (or as close to it as you can)

Tricky.... Part of me wants to say, stop them training as if they can't take a bit of a shouting at then they maybe too fragile to train in a MA or have never had a raised voice before? If they are clumsy or slightly ignorant then they may need to toughen up. Another part says go find another instructor that you will be happy with but you could end up being taught rubbish by a "friendly" Sensei. Another part says stick with it if the Karate is good, if there are plenty of students who are keen then it's normally a good indicator. They don't have to be nice to you, most instructors are good at Karate and have to learn the people skills, some don't or can't be bothered with it but their Karate could be good enough... If we are too friendly it's difficult to keep respect, students also need to think for themselves and be aware, just because someone hasn't said "don't run near me and my laptop as you risk tripping and sending £1000 worth of computer onto the floor", then trying to claim damages for a trip hazard. Most people will stay away from such an area, if not it's time to learn to be more aware. Remember that we all have teaching Karate as a primary skill, we are not there to teach kids respect, discipline etc. They will get these type of life skills through Karate. We often get students/kids in with issues and the parent(s) bring them along to try and get us to disipline them where they have failed. Quite happy to teach them Karate.....

That's good about the trial, we offer a free lesson and 4 or 5 lessons without any commitment which is the norm is most clubs. Some MA schools won't teach you how to effectively defend yourself so you may need to find something extra later on, it is normally a long process in learning everything and how to build up speed and power. There are plenty of people that get a Black belt and assume they can win any fight, unfortunately unless you train effectively and do a lot of grappling/sparring it's not an automatic skill. On the plus side you will get fitter, faster and leaner.

I would keep looking for one that doesn't cost a fortune, I know we have to make some money to cover hire costs, expenses and things like instructor insurance, CRB/DBS checks and 1st Aid etc, but I get worried when large sums of money are mentioned or payments up front. If there isn't any others nearby then I personally would opt for Karate every time, it's a huge subject so long as you have the right instructor to pass it on - or get you to a point where you can explore it more yourself. I have seen a few high kickers get knocked straight on their backsides by a competent partner so I don't favour high kicks as the best form of defense/attack.

Read something before about a revolving thing, it would cover everything needed from white to black but not in a logical order... Beginners need basics, advanced students need basics too but also something more advanced. Some students will need the step by step approach because they can't handle too much too soon, others will go off and learn/practice what you teach them so will get bored with the same stuff. Start with what your Sensei taught you and then add to it when you get more comfortable, try not to make it better every week as you will soon run out of ideas and realise that you have strayed from the syllabus and basics. You will at some point be able to swap and change your teaching on who turns up and on what they need the most. I've started plenty of lessons with a plan and within 10 minutes thrown it out to react to what i've seen in front of me. I'm no great instructor with years of experience but I don't lose many students so am glad I must be doing something right. Your main aim is to make them want to come back next week, this is sound business advice but you also need to train them long enough so they get what it's all about and will want to come back even if they have to walk through a blizzard to get there. With kids (and some adults) this may involve doing something "fun" in the last few minutes as that is what they will be telling their folks when they get home.

Yep, relax! Step relaxed which will flow and be a lot quicker, when you deliver the punch/block then tense at the end of the technique. You can break down a stepping punch, for example, into small stages. Step and move feet together keeping knees bent, move foot out about a couple of feet but keep the arms as they were. In the last part of the step the front foot rushes into full Zenkutzu Dachi (front stance) and at the same time the arms change so that one punches as the other snaps back to the hip - it is during this last stage that you tense all muscles and lock out your back leg. When you step again completely relax and drop your shoulders. This can take a while to master but don't worry, at the early Kyu grade it is okay to just get the move right. Relax more.