andym

Brilliant. Go girl, as you lot say , over there.

I have to second the above advice. You can work more 'stuff' with a bag. The Makiwara should not be used by anyone who hasn't finished growing. That's why an age can't be put on its use, remember some people only finish growing at 21.

etali ask's GKR, claims to be NONE CONTACT Karate. To my mind , a contradiction in terms to me. A GKR is not a 'style' , it is a sales organisation and she shouldn't be visiting other clubs ! It's against their rules / contract - get the picture

It's not a karate club, nor a style. It's a business organisation, that sells karate door to door. But unlike say Avon, it's 'product' is sub-standard and over priced. It expands by talking beginners and lower grade pupils into opening clubs for them. This is why it's 'product' is sub-standard.

That's got my vote, or as 'The Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy' say's "Keep banging the rocks together".

Hello hertsmas and welcome to the forum from cloudy Wigan.

Hello and welcome to the forum

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Lets use the analogy of dance. Dance = martial arts. Ballet= karate, a style within the over all art. Ballets defining characteristic is to dance up on the toes/points. So if you produce a 'ballet', were no one goes up on their points, but stays flat footed , it is no long ballet, it is dance. Also, being simplistic, kata translate as form. Form means , the way something is. Enough said !

So as one of my first posts in this forum, I wish to pose a theoretical question to you all: Is there such a thing as Karate without Kata? By that, can you learn karate techniques and movement with simply kihon and kumite?

http://www-edu.pref.okinawa.jp/hotai/karate/dojolist-2009/index.html Hopefully this web site may be of use to you - Andy

Going completely off topic, sojobo, thanks for your friend video. I've never seen such well made stuff for years. Thanks to yourself and 'openmind'. Great work.

hello Dave and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry I have a problem with this. D.V.D's and 'youtube' should never be used to learn kata ! These are good ways for academic research etc, but to learn kata you must have a teacher to lead and correct. You'll be in for a nasty shock when you turn up at a Goju Ryu Dojo and ask them .'What do you think of my kata, learned it off a DVD ?' This is based on what happened in the '80's and 90's when instructional videos first appeared.

Happy New Year everybody.

Well done Crimson-Lotus / Celeste. Hopefully it will get you some more respect at work. Keep up the good work.

Hello Mark and welcome to the forum.

Doing this will probably get you into more trouble, than not carrying one ! It is wrong in so many ways and can lead into all kinds of trouble. Stick with the mace and a good couple of strong well practiced techniques.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Surely if you stop using the inserts, your former abilities will return. This may take time, but not as long as when you were first learning. Patience , return to the Dojo and explain - you wont have burnt your bridges their. Again I advise patience and training. Then you will be back to where you left off, and can begin to advance. Good luck Andy

Welcome to the forum vagabond. When looking at new clubs, don't so much look at the style , but at the quality of the instruction at the club. Andy

Hello and welcome to the forum from a fellow Goju guy.

Congratualtions terrierpike and welcome to the forum. Enjoy and keep up the good work.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Simple answer - NO. you can research, study and get advice via the internet etc. But learn, no you can't. Learning the martial arts requires partners and feed back - feel.