mal103

Best of luck in a speedy recovery, everyone here is much the richer from your input and wisdom so keep us posted. Best wishes, Mal

I know a "more qualified Instructor" and he matches a lot of the bold type above.... Many training years and lots of club locations with a fairly good history, quite a high Dan grade etc. A lot of Dan grades have passed through or have left once attaining Brown/Black belt due to missing aspects of this "Senior".

Walk away, in fact run away! There was a club in the UK that got everyone to sign up for a long term contract and then vanished with the lot. The only way i would do contracts is if it was monthly payments.

Quoted from previous replies: "ranks below Shodan are made up necessary evils to keep kids (and adults) interested. If it wouldn't cause 99% of the kids to drop out, he'd probably go back to just white, maybe brown, and black. As such, he's very loose with kyu standards." I would love to bin all Kyu gradings and have 3 or 4 steps to Shodan. I don't have lots of detailed criteria as I don't have the time to keep track of it all, I will "know" when someone is ready to move up, some may still move up on their earlier gradings but I set a certain benchmark for them to get to at certain levels. I will try and describe it below but it can be slightly different for each student due to age, illnesses, past training etc. So long as they put in effort and show an increase of skills then they will progress, they will also need to do their latest Kihon, Kata and Kumite. 10th Kyu - for their first grading then keep it simple, basic skills, do their Kata on their own, 5 step Kumite, allowed to make mistakes. The first can be the hardest as it's all new. 9th/8th/7th - gradual increase in speed and skills, should be using Hikite (pulling) hand in all basic techniques and twisting the hips, should have good stances and show some power! 6th/5th/4th - leading up to Brown belt then this is where I like to see the "click" moment and for maximum effort to start showing. Skills and technique should be good, speed and power should be progressing. Anyone who is still having issues with basic stances/movements will be stopped from grading further. 3rd/2nd/1st Kyu - Brown belts should be learning new Kata and skills with ease and working to their maximum, if anyone here isn't at 100 percent then they will stay on Brown Belt Row until they get on with it or give up.

Happy New Year everyone. Thank you Patrick and everyone else who helps out on here, one of the best Forums I have been a part of! Here's to a great 2015. OSU!

Looking back there were a few that got graded who clearly weren't ready but were related or friends with the instructor(s)/Sensei. This results on one passing with only a few hours in a dojo, some girls passing a senior Kyu grade who had very poor technique and a 2 year Black Belt! I spoke with a few students who did have the correct mind set who stated they refused to grade because they thought they would pass but were confident that they were not ready. The old club are trying to grade two 1st Kyu's to Shodan who are not ready, they still train with me as well but are clearly not as good as my other 1st Kyu's. We need MA Police who expose these McDojo's and can strip the Sensei of rank instead of allowing them to hand rank out like sweets.

Great to hear things like this, good luck with the future.

Pretty cool. How are you liking it so far? What presents the greatest challenge? This is the year that I tested for 4th Dan. Absolutely brilliant, biggest challenge is to keep on top of all paperwork and ensure everyone has the right insurance, book, new belt, certs and info. If they are happy and training hard then I am winning. Hardest moment is to tell some they are not good enough to grade yet as I have set high standards. I am determined to be true to Karate, MA and tradition - at the same time I am also free to explore new (old) Bunkai and introduce anything I think is relevant to good Karate and self defence. Well done on your 4th Dan and to everyone who has posted their achievements, good luck for 2015!

I like this and can relate to it, I used to know a self appointed 5th Dan who was more "stick" and would drive/push their students but had trouble keeping senior grades. I tend to think you need to use the stick (gently) earlier on in their training and at some point in time the students should be pushing themselves, if they can't train unless Sensei is behind them shouting then they will always need pushing and never know how to become a self motivated student. One other Dojo I went to was mostly Black belts but when Sensei didn't turn up they were lost as to what to do, I would hope that good students would just get on and train together. Another was more interested in showing off his Japanese than teaching so you spent most of the lesson trying to figure out what they were saying. Some of my students have been to others nearby and been seriously hurt as the "sensei" showed off how powerful they were. You will know the good ones as the students will be inspired and passionate instead of little Sensei clones.

I've not tried Judo but had a go at BJJ, personally I prefer stand up training with only a small percentage of contact with others. I have had some great bruises and lumps from contact work, mostly in free sparring where we both attacked at the same time. Getting injured is not why I train so I try to avoid this at all costs, I believe you can do plenty of partner work and increase skills without much risk, especially with a good partner who can control their attacks.

You kept control of the situation and yourself so well done.

Sound advice, I often advise not to worry about height, better to deliver a good technically strong low kick. If you try high kicks against someone fast then you will soon be on your backside. A lot of the best applications of Kata involve kicking low or disrupting an opponents leg/knee. Also the end position of a kick can often be just that - the end position - it hit the intended target on it's way to being head height. A lot of people misinterpret Kata Bunkai by looking at the end position.

I echo a lot of the above. Add these experiences... A certain type of Dojo that I went to see had "watered" it down they said, some had sweatshirts over their Gi's and a couple had black belts on but were no faster or better skilled than the average 5th Kyu. Another Dojo where I trained used to make you sit and watch too often, I paid to do Karate and learn, not watch! The normal standards moans, wanting to grade, no effort, moaning they feel tired.... As I don't make a lot of money then my satisfaction is in seeing good students learn and progress, I get a real buzz when they come in and practice Kata before lesson and have corrected what I helped them with last time. Also when they put in full effort and train regularly. Not everyone is like this though... It's great when you get a lot of students in and they are all enthusiastic - a teachers dream!

Thank you for your time in replying For those that have a choice of Kata for Black belt (Jion, Empi, Kanku-Dai etc) are you expected to know all of the Kata and choose your best one, or do you only have to know one?

Just a few thoughts on the below: 1) You don't need a licence to practice martial arts in the UK unless you are a professional fighter. Their existence is by product of a myth. Used by large orgs as a membership fee 2) You don't need independent insurance to practice martial arts. It is a choice, your club's policy should cover you. You may be sued as an individual for negligence, so it is a good idea. A child cannot hold any as they are not a legal entity. Most kids have insurance, not sure they should be without it and the company knows their ages? 3) Most of the martial arts in the UK bear no resemblance to their parent style. They carry the name of the style, but seldom resemble the original. Hate to think how many fall into this category, some have watered it down, others have made changes, most syllabus is only a small percentage of the whole 4) The belt system is a Western invention. To ask a student to achieve 20 or more belts before reaching Dan grade is a revenue builder, nothing more. The 10 kyu system was in Judo and borrowed by Funakoshi and the rest, anyone adding to this is purely making money. 5) The existence of Child Black Belts trivialises what the status of a Dan grade is. I think the 10 Kyu system should be stretched out until they are at least teenager, then only 1st Dan until 21, everyone has their own ideas on this though 6) If someone tells you that they achieved a Dan grade in 2 years, try not to laugh. One of the reasons I left my old club!

This is the year that I went it alone and started my own club. This doesn't mean I will make my own style or create a new syllabus but purely means that I will control the admin and running myself. I am maintaining close links with some decent clubs nearby where I will continue my training and ensure my skills, syllabus and techniques stay relevant and fresh. I spent a few years trying to push my old club's standards up and putting up with the CI's poor technique and general lack of knowledge - but reluctance to seek out more. It came to a head during the April grading where we passed people who had literally just started or were of a very poor standard. I had stopped some of my students from grading as I didn't think they were ready... After resigning and taking 20+ students and 2 training nights I have started a 3rd session in Warminster and now have over 30 students, several students who trained at multiple locations were told lies about me and stopped training with me, I'm happy now that if they weren't able to trust me then I'm glad they have gone, others are happy to train anywhere and ignored the lies. The old club has now graded 2 up to Shodan - 1 has only been training for 2 years! They continue to try and boast excellence but end up posting dodgy videos. They have a lack of senior grades as like me they leave. I'm hoping my current lot will prosper and stick with me long after black belt.

I learnt in a Dojo that had just Bassai Dai for most of the time whilst a Brown belt but have since moved to having lots more now I run my own club. I'm not associated to anyone but have adopted a lot from the group that I now train with, including some of their syllabus and the Kata order. Just wanted to know where this order sits with other Shotokan schools, I researched a lot of big associations and found them to be as below but I've just had another look about and it seems several clubs have extended their training Kata so that by the time you work through the 5 Heian/Pinan's and Tekki 1 then you get to 1st Kyu and Bassai Dai. So... (apologies for spelling) Taikyoko/Kihon Kata for 10th kyu Heian/Pinan 1-5 for 9th to 5th kyu Tekki/Nihanchu 1 for 4th Kyu Bassai Dai for 3rd Kyu Brown belt Hangetsu for 2nd Kyu Brown + 1 Jion/Empi for1st Kyu Brown +2 As they spend longer at 1st Kyu they are also expected to have a working knowledge of Kanku Dai for when they grade to Blackbelt If any Black belts train with me then I would expect them to know all of the above. The last for are often referred to as Brown belt Kata, what about your system?

Do a warm up and then go through something like the below link, practice often and get up to speed with the drills first before stretching that little bit more. Only stretch when warm though - 5-10 minute jog first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CicUanJB94M

Good question, if you have the hunger to learn then go find it. For the average Kyu grade up to Black belt - or the level that they will quit - then there is little interest in these things and it will be a waste of time teaching them. For the more interested student then I think it should be taught from mid kyu level upwards, it's fine to call everything a block for beginners but better for the instructor to help them realise there is more to it than the student realise this on their own. My old Sensei was happy to call everything a block and wouldn't entertain the idea of a closer range application for EVERY move in all Kata, I went to other clubs and had my eyes opened, I have since left my former club and now seek knowledge from several streams. People you should look up are: Iain Abernethy Patrick McCarthy John Burke Don't worry that these are all Karate-ka or different styles, think more of learning their ideas and principles. They have found out, researched and backward engineered plenty of Kata to teach you HOW to read them. I learnt much more at Brown belt, some aren't bothered, some want to know from day one. Where ever you are, go and research, go and learn. If your current Sensei/Dojo can't or won't teach you then you have to feed your own journey. If they forbid you then more reason to go!

A question for the instructors.... Don't answer if you rely on MA for a main or second job, or part of your income. If you had several students come to you and said we will sort out payments for insurance, Gi's, hall-hire, equipment and everything - please can you come here and teach us your art - when it suits you - at no expense to yourself. Would you still go and teach them? If someone recognised you in the street and said they were having trouble learning their next Kata and could you help. Would you help them out or would you suggest they turn up and pay the fee...?

I've just worked it out for my Club, for about 3 years training, joining fee, insurance and gradings it will cost about £900 ($1400) I did an alternative costing on another club and got £1300 but I suspect that there are several more that charge more. A student commented the other day that Karate was his cheapest ever hobby so it depends on what we are willing to pay. You can see how lots of clubs can get swayed by greed, normally this effects the training as they have too many students of give up their training to teach and then gain bad habits. Personally I only ever want to cover my costs and will offer extra free training if funds get too high, or reduce regular costs. When you compare it to other life expenses over 3 years then it can be fairly cheap, for example my fuel bill for my motorbike is £7000 for 3 years, to buy my favourite blend of tea costs me over £500 for 3 years. I'm not going to work out my alcohol bill though....

People should be welcome to train in any Dojo to help spread their knowledge and to gain new knowledge, it is shocking to hear things like this, they have missed a key element of being a Martial Artist. It's bad to insist you wear you belt/grade/badges in a new club when trying a new style, out of respect you should be willing to start at the end with white belt but should hopefully be recognised and accelerated to an appropriate level over time. It is terrible to have bad attitude meet you or have people strutting around thinking they are better. This is also where you have people insist on badges and colours etc to promote their style as being better. In my experience I have trained at several other Shotokan Clubs and been made very welcome, a couple have been a bit odd and one of my friends was kicked hard when trying a new Dojo, a cracked rib was not the sort of welcome you expect. I have had a TKD black belt enquire about joining my Shotokan club but his ego had trouble fitting in the door...

Either way that's a lot of money! Think of the long term financial hit and give each one a trial, maybe look for similar MA with cheaper rates.

In my experience clubs in the UK charge a joining fee and then a yearly membership fee, these include costs like Licences and insurance, also cover admin, grading books etc. Some charge £10-20 for the yearly fee, even though most insurances for students are around £3 per year. The majority of clubs will insist everyone has insurance, if you are injured by someone you can make a claim against theirs, if you injure someone by accident then you should also be covered. If you are given bad instruction and injure yourself then you can claim against the instructor. The UK is now full of "no win-no fee" type companies that will make claims against anyone if you think you have been injured and someone else could be to blame. It's not worth the risk of not having it so most clubs will insist on it but normally source it for you, all you do is pay your money and get a bit of paper in your grading/licence book - always check it if unsure! I wouldn't let anyone grade - or train for much longer - unless it was in date. Self graders... covered this in another post in the Instructor section "Self grading seniors", I know one who went to 4th without having to do anything and WITHIN A YEAR went to 5th by being a complete fraud!!! Too busy strutting around saying "I AM!" to realise the extremely disrespectful act they have performed and brought shame on themselves and our art.

Sounds familiar... I was part of a club that was taking money for insurance but not buying it, the sensei was a self graded 5th dan who had not lined up in front of anyone for several years and was never seen sparring, in fact their basic skills had faded soo much i have had to re train at other clubs to cure my bad form. I have since started my own club and use the IMASA for insurance for me and my students. There is no legal requirement to have a licence, this is purely a membership fee of the large governing bodies, associations, federations etc. There isn't even a requirement for insurance but it is very risky not to have it. You can guarantee a personal claim against you if someone is hurt. It is also fraudulent to pretend to have insurance and association/membership. I'm guessing the lack of sparring was to stop themselves being shown up for what they are - pretenders teaching rubbish karate and cheating people out of money but making them think they were passing grades and becoming good at it. Without boasting look on my website at the mission statement, this is where we need some form of regulation to bring up the minimum standards and get rid of the pretenders, a club near me just graded and have 2 year black belts and 5th kyus that have only been training a few months - complete belt factory! Some of my 4th kyus are nearly 3 years in and a few of those have just had to skip a grading because they weren't good enough.