JohnnyB

60 euro per month for a weekly three 1h sessions + one 1.5h supervised free training day. +8 euros extra to use the gym. Free use of sauna. Before exams we do extra classes for no extra charge and usual exam cost is 40 to 70 euros depending on Kyu grade. If u fail your exam on either 1 of the 3 tests (Kihon, Kata or Kumite) u get a Kari and u pay extra 20 Euros in your next exam.

We get like 3-6 months notice for our exam day and we work the curriculum for our kyu grade during that time. I'd love to have surprise gradings but that would have some people from my class fail since not everyone is catching up the new kata/techniques at the same time like other people.

http://www.karateforums.com/shindokan-and-tkd-get-together-vt41438.html Read through this thread, paying attention to the parts about pre-pivoting. May help you on the different surface. Great advice thank you. Thinking back on this i remember our Sempai instructing my 7th Kyu class to pre-pivot when doing Fumikomi (Stomp Kick) from Kiba Dachi stance in the Heian Sandan kata but I never thought about applying it for Mawashi geri. Can't wait to try it in our next session..!

Update: My Dojo is closed for 2+ weeks now due to licencing issues caused by the mess of the Greek goverment idiotic laws regarding gyms so our Sensei moved our training sessions to a basketball court. I'm so close to getting blisters on my feet I really hate it. The wood is not smooth nor clean and in addition there are dirty plastic stickers that add to the pain. When trying to do mawashi geri my feet is getting stuck in place. Very bad for the joints. Still I'm happy we are back on track for Mid June gradings.

Shotokan can never be considered Japanese since it originated from Okinawa. There was no such thing as Japanese Karate before Gitchin Funakoshi introduced it to the Japanese mainland in 1922. With the exception of Okinawan Karate styles Shorin-ryū and Shōrei-ryū, all other ''styles'' were born from Funakoshi's karate to his great dissapoinment since he never called his martial art anything more than Karate. The ego and need to project themselves made the other sensei differentiate Funakoshi's Karate to something else.

Puzzle mats in my dojo as well. 15 years ago they had hard wooden floor. I like the puzzle mat rating it 8.5/10 cuz it provides smooth ground coefficient for techniques while providing good cushion for grappling and throws. However it needs regular cleaning and good ventilation in the classroom.

http://www.youtube.com/user/howtostretch?feature=watch I advise to watch this man demonstrate streches he is amazing. He goes through all the detail of your body mechanics and it looks so simple even for the beginner. I'll be trying Lotus position soon to strech my hip muscles and test the strain my dodgy knee can withstand.

Wow I just went through this whole thread and enjoyed every post. Although I do fancy a girl in my class I'll hold on to my feelings and concentrate on my training for now. But God help me its difficult! All this testosterone and sweat makes for such a chemistry in the dojo its hard to keep focus.

I came back to the same dojo to practice shotokan after 18 years of absence. Out of respect I wore a white belt without asking anyone since I expected to go through the syllabus again. My previous rank was 8th kyu and I still remembered the 1st kata quite well since I earned a medal competing in the past. After 2 weeks with the beginners my Sensei told me I will be wearing my Yellow belt again and switched me to train with the coloured belts class. Its all up to the sensei imho. You must abide to his rules if u expect him to teach you. Nevertheless noone wears a belt outside class so your martial art within you is all that matters.

Thanks for the warm welcome and sry for the triple thread I had some internet lags.

Having the same flex problem and went through watching quite a few flexibility exercises on youtube. I found very useful to start my warm up with dynamic streches and then move down to static streches. Also another important thing is to static strech again after you finish your MA training.

Hi fellow martial artists. I practice Shotokan and I had 8th Kyu since i was 10 years old when i quit and now 18 years after i came back and recently got my Orange Belt (7th Kyu) and im so happy about it. Karate really changed my lifestyle and i finally started losing weight and getting back in shape. cya at the posting boards.