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Im not sure if there is really such thing as a "normal confrontation". Are you saying you will wait for your opponent to attack? This is a big no-no. If you KNOW he/she is going to attack, dont wait for it, hit first. That means you may not need to deal with his attack at all if your attack(s) are effective. The pre-emptive strike is not for everyone, but i would much rather hurt the other guy than have him hurt me. I think its a bit of both, we hear about "no first strike in karate" all the time and the debate about weather this means you should not hit your opponent unless they try and hit you. In my opinion, the pre-emptive strike in no-way contradicts this quote if you feel that you are in danger. To feel that way means that someone is already "attacking" you even if not physically, by placing you in an uncomfortable situation. So that is an example of how style may affect a persons mentality. The things mentioned earlier cover more of the personal aspect of the mindset. i.e. The parts about not being able to imagine yourself initiating a real attack, As opposed to being decisive and realising that you may need to hurt someone before they hurt you. For more info on the pre-emptive strike and the other aspects discussed in this post, have a look at this article. http://www.sammyfranco.com/firststrikearticle.html

Huh??? I think i may just have an even crazier idea than going around challenging all there other martial arts schools. How about you go to different schools and train with them so you can share your knowledge and maybe even learn something, rather than trying beat each other up.

Am i the only one who thinks that this whole thing sounds like a stupid/crazy idea? This is the real world, not a martial arts movie.

I utilise my lead hand quiet a bit so i like to keep it extended a little bit and basically "aimed" straight at my opponents nose so i can fire it straight towards there face as a stop hit or just a regular attack. At the same time, this leaves the lead hand in a good position to defend also.

Good post MissG. Dont ever be afraid to discuss things on here or post your opinions (after all thats what the forum is for). Beginner and advanced students can always learn new things off each other.

Ummmmm.. WHY???

Im in NSW, about 4 hours drive from sydney. I dont do goju myself, but there is a goju school in my area. http://www.gojukai.com.au/gojukai7.html << that site has most locations through-out australia listed. Goodluck finding a school.

In a basic sense, Goju Ryu is the style of karate and Goju Kai is an organisation within that style. Goju Kai was founded by Gogen "the Cat" Yamaguchi.

I think this practice can be worth while but still limiting. For example, if you practice in a living room, the things you would use in this situation will not directly apply to every other living room you find yourself in, due to the fact that basically no 2 living rooms are the same size or have the same stuff in them. I think whats more important is your awareness and your ability to recognise objects that may help you if the need arises. So if find yourself in a bad situation you may take a quick look and see there is a table behind you, a great object to slam somebody into. But this not only applies to a table, it can apply to a wall, dumpster or other large solid object. So you see how some forms of training transfers over to many situations while others do not. But, in say that, if you really want to setup this kind of training environment i would suggest going out and looking for some old furniture (chairs, tables, lounges, anything you can get your hands on) and then finding a room with nothing in it and setting up a scenario in there. Unless your friends are willing to risk having there stuff wrecked. Once again i would not waste to much time trying to find furniture and stuff.

Wearing them down may be a valid technique in a competition but hardly useful in self defence. I recommend that you practice hitting hard and fast then running.

Anything goes in a real fight, including random weapons, multiple opponents with multiple weapons. I dont see how that is easier than controlled sparring against a training partner. You can just as easily keep your distance with your hands around chin height which makes it alot easier to protect against everything from the sucker punch often prefered by the average joe to more controlled and well directed strikes from someone with more experience. Your not blocking just your face in this position, you can protect the whole body. In this position you hardly look like you want to box, preferably your hands are open and extended from the body slighting so your not shaping up exactly like a boxer would. You can still see everything in this position, your hands are at about chin height, not covering your eyes in any way. And i think i said this before but obviously having some distance between yourself and your opponent is favourable. This however is not always possible, in which case the hands up position is one of the best to be in allowing for ease in defence and attack. I have to say im enjoying the information being thrown around in this topic, keep it going.

Wow Jules. You must get tired from pressing the full-stop key so much.

Basically anything that controls the knife hand long enough to disarm, damage the opponent, or escape.

When your shadowboxing, practising basics or whatever it is that you do, breath out when you do each technique. Concerntrate on your breathing for a little while whilst doing your techniques and then it will come naturally after a little bit of practice.

Im not sure how Master Jules will respond to this, but i also do karate and the variety of stances taught are not static positions but rather transitionary positions you may find yourself "hitting" while moving around. I personally start with a stance similar to the one you describe with a similar guard when sparring or practicing self defence. But from there i move around and depending on the type of attack im performing or how im moving i will often find myself in one of the variety of karate stances for a short moment, then i either come back to the fighting stance or move to a different stance if i follow up with a sweep or throw. When you "hit" the position it wont be exactly the same as when its practised in basics but when you practise it in basics you feel HOW the technique should be. For example, the forward stance is obviously signifying the transfer of your total mass in the forward direction. Hope this sheds some kind of light on the use of different stances in karate. If not, i tried anyway.

Theres a big difference between a sparring situation and self-defence, obviously. In sparring it may be a viable tactic to "keep your distance" and guard your mid-section waiting for your opponent to attack with a conventional technique. but in self defence your not going to wait for your opponent to attack, or just stand there with your hands up. Your going to be trying to talk your way out of the situation with your hands prefereable up and open in the "i dont want any trouble, i surrender" type position. Close your fists and your pretty much in a boxing position. If your not talking your way out, the only other thing your doing is running, or attacking. If your opponent tries to attack you while your attacking it most probably wont be at full force let alone very effective (although it could be) and you shouldnt have much trouble defending: 1. Either your face with your hands, 2. Your mid-section with your forearms/elbows and even hands with sweeping type movements, 3. Or your groin and leg areas with your own legs/ footwork or hands in a sweeping fashion once again. The "boxing" position is not just designed for protection of the face and upperbody but is used in conjunction with footwork, evasion, parries, etc etc etc to allow a strong defence of the whole body, while maintaining excillent protection of your head.

In terms of self defence situations the groin is not really the main target your average thug is going to aim for. In the worst case scenario, yes. But thats better than not having your hands up there at all.

Are you just starting training? if not i would recommend that you practise combos also.

The boxing position puts the hands in a good position to attack and defend, weather that means deflecting, blocking, parrying, evading, and in the worst case scenario absorbing the blows on forearms/elbows/hands.

In our dojo its sort-of the same thing as jedimc said. When you are brown belt you have to demonstrate that you are comfortable conducting a basic class before you are eligable to grade to shodan.

Literally written with a laundary marker. The only time we get embroidered is on the black belts, and its not like we hand out to many of those.

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At our school the juniors grade for the standard belt and then later grade for a stripe on that belt. In the senior class we dont have coloured belts at all until brown and then black. The grade is simply written on the white belt in japanese.

Ill just stick with the boxing guard, it works for me.

I think thats the best thing you can do. Use your brain and dont let your ego take over. If you think they will physically attack you then defend yourself but other than that dont fight. That doesnt mean much to people with baseball bats and knives.