Sainthood

A teacher should be a decent fighter but that isn't the only thing that is important when trying to find a good teacher/dojo.

Welcome

Thanks a lot. This is really helpful I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.

I would say start them off at a white belt, just because they may have a lot of experience in one style doesn`t mean they will be at the same level in this style. If they have taken time away from MA they might also be a little rusty. That being said they will still preform much better are learn much faster than a normal white belt student and you should judge them accordingly. If for example after a few months are preforming at a higher level then students at higher ranking belts then perhaps they should skip a belt level.

DojoTalk, I am defiantly interested in taking a look at your stretching routine if you don`t mind posting or sending me the link. I have working towards become more flexible and can`t seem to get a good routine down.

This pretty much sums up why anyone quits anything.

I would say it has more to do with what your comfortable with than it does your skill. Start of with a medium one and then if you are not comfortable with it after training get a lighter or heaver one.

Thanks for the link Pers. It`s interesting to see the differences between the styles even within the same martial art.

Welcome

That's true but xbox has better security maybe if Sony would charge for online they can put it towards securing their network so they don't get hacked and have everyone's information jeopardized again.

I just started training in Shotokan and my goal by the end of the year is to have reached Blue Belt and start training 4+ times a week.

Though my balance is fine I know how you feel about your short comings. I quit karate 5 years ago and now that I have joined up again in a new dojo and new style I went from being a brown belt back to being a white belt and not being able to preform the way I use to. So trust me when I say I know how it feels to give it your all and still not be where you want to be, but it sounds like its your shoes that are giving you the problems. You should ditch them and start training again, give it a few months and see where you end up.

I have never really thought about the reasoning behind kata or how many there were and sitting here reading posts of people saying their style/dojo have 18 I find myself thinking wow that's a lot of kata! Long story short I went to my dojos site and counted how many kata's we must learn and we need to learn 22!!! That's crazy and I suddenly feel really behind.

I think that the less belts the better. It makes the wearer have to work harder to move up and they hold on to their belts much longer and seem like more of an accomplishment once the next belt is earned. P.SMy dojo goes white yellow orange green blue brown black.

Hey everyone. I'm a 21 year old university student who is just starting out in the shotokan style. I trained in kyokushin for four years and had to take a few years off when I started working. I'm looking forward to learning a new style and getting to know some people on the karateforums.

really useful link. Thanks guys.

I don't have a specific workout that I do every day to help me train for karate but I have gotten some interesting ideas from the Health, Training and Fitness sections. You might want to ask over there.

Just got back from my first shotokan class a few hours ago! I'm still really undecided. On one hand it felt really good to be back in karate and I was able to easily follow the class without any problems. The only major difference I was able to see was when sparing one would have to announce their attack before attacking even if the sensei had the whole class practicing the same moves. ( I don't know if its like that in shotokan or if this is dojo specific but I found it a bit annoying) other small things about stances were different but mostly everything is very similar. Oh and this may be because I haven't trained in a few years and don't remember correctly but I noticed a few differences in some of the more advanced katas. I really can't make a judgment on which style I like better after just one shotokan class but I will defiantly be going to some more classes!!

Hey everyone thanks for your reply's. My first class is going to be tonight I'll let you all know what I think!

Hey everyone I was wondering if anyone knew the major differences between kyokushin and shotokan? I trained in Kyokushin for almost 6 years and have earned my brown belt but I had to quit a few years ago due to time and money issues and now that I am started train again the only school I have found in my new area is shotokan. So I guess what I'm asking is what am I getting myself into? Has anyone trained in both styles? What do you guys prefer and is there any major differences or things I should look out for when starting a new style. Thanks in advance!