DoctorQui

A big well done...it feels good passing a grading doesn't it! BB gets closer and closer! LOL OSU

Is it sensei Andy Sherry ? No it isn't! He used to be KUGB and knows Andy Sherry very well, but left way back! Andy Sherry was made 9th Dan recently I believe!

OP, are you happy at this club and do you feel you are getting quality instruction?

Bad behaviour and the perception of is largey subjective! There maybe factors that you are unaware of that may explain why this child acts this way eg Aspergers or any other disability that may affect behaviour, information that you would or should not be party to! Ultimately, the decision to take any action is that of your Chief Instructor. If he doesn't see a problem or is being a lot more permissive, then there is really very little you can do! I would be guided by the attitudes of the adult senior members of the group and act accordingly, at the end of the day, someone with a disability or behavioural problems would not be best served by being excluded all the time! You Chief Instructor needs to manage the situation and sadly, you cannot influence that!

I will be taking my 1st Dan within the next few months and it has been 27 years in the waiting LOL! I started in 1986 in Goju Ryu and reached 4th Kyu after 4 years, then left Karate for 18 years starting again with Wado Ryu getting to 2nd Kyu in 2 years. I then left because of a marriage break up and had to move areas, I then had an 18 month break and change to Shotokan in 2011!

My Sensei is 8th Dan Shotokan and I joined his club about a year ago from Wado Ryu! He allowed me to keep my rank then after I fell on hard times after being made redundant, I was going to drop out and just bring my kids to train. He asked me if I would become club secretary and then told me that he is going to let me and my family train for free because he said losing us would be a travesty. His teaching is absolutely top quality, as he is internationally recognised and is often asked to teach and referee abroad! He deserves my loyalty and I will always work hard for him because his generosity is boundless!

The actual Club has been established since 1980, this is a new 'class' rather than new club but each of the class is set up to attract new/local students. So all the legal stuff is taken care of particularly re CRB checks, child protection policies, liability insurance, first aid etc is already in place. In terms of a lease, there isn't one, it's simply a booking at a community sports centre (quarter of a hall which is about the size of 8 badminton courts) The other classes have been operating for so many years that the current membership has well established over time! The new class will try and hit the ground running, so to speak!

Thanks for advice so far guys! We do have a website although it is very basic and out of date and I have only just got control of it (I was made club secretary a few months back!) so am in the process of redoing it! We also have a Facebook page but, if I'm honest, I have no idea how to use it in this capacity! I have designed a flyer and yes, I didn't think of putting notices up in shops and agree this is a good idea. I am also thinking of going out and doing a couple of weekends worth of flyer posting around the local area )(there are a couple of housing estates and they always have kids!) When we start it is likely that for the first couple of weeks, there will be support from other members who attend other venues in order to keep numbers looking healthy.

Hi guys. My Shotokan club currently runs 6 classes per week excluding Saturday! However, I recently found out that another Shotokan club whose Dojo was a local sports centre on a Saturday morning, quit about 18 months ago due to some issue with the instructor and the club has since folded. The club was actually based some 50 miles away but travelled down on Saturday mornings! After speaking with my Sensei (who is 8th Dan) and making enquiries for him, he has asked me and a friend to set up classes out of that venue in order to pick up the local students that were dropped. He has also asked my friend and I, to do the instructing. Apart from the initial terror of being asked to instruct (I'm only 1st Kyu and don't feel qualified) I am also trying to put together a marketing strategy in order attract students, new and seasoned. We have a very limited budget as the club is not a for profit set up (we generally only cover expenses and rent). Has anyone here started from scratch? What did you do, what was the most affective marketing practise you used and how on earth would you get the message out to the previous clubs members?? Thanks in advance. OSU

Took up Goju Ryu when I was 17 (1986) and reached 3rd Kyu then moved area and couldn't be bothered to do it again until 23 years later when my 6 year old wanted to do it so started with him in Wado Ryu and reached 1st Kyu then moved area again and after a two year break and on being unable to find a local Wado club, started Shotokan and am about to take Shodan. S my journey to black belt has taken me 27 years ! I am also White Belt in Aikido! So to summarise! Goju Ryu 3rd Kyu Wado Ryu 1st Kyu (pre Dan level) Shotokan 1st Kyu (pre Dan level) Aikido 5th Kyu (white belt which, bizarrely, comes after red belt - the first belt)

Yes, I have it and it is very good...I would certainly recommend it! OSU

Well, my dojo has an after-school program with a van to pick those students up from their schools, so I wouldn't say that, in and of itself, is a bad sign. If an instructor is teaching for a living, the youth programs are what keep the doors open and the lights on. What is important is that they teach what they say they teach. I'm more put off by the outlandish claims of teaching secret "tactical systems" and ninjutsu, and by the fact that I didn't see anything on the site about who taught the instructor. After school martial art clubs are not common in the UK, if they exist at all so its probably just my perception of that.

Thanks for that! I looked for a website but all it'd give me was yellow pages and other directory entries! I wonder if its because I'm searching in the UK?!? No...I got the same thing myself and I live in the USA. Check out my post above for something that might help you. Thanks S8 I appreciate your advice! Its what I feared when he told me about it. It screams McDojo. They even have a minibus service for picking kids up from school as well as loads of other activities which need to be paid for which will no doubt be reflected in membership, uniform and grading fees! I've given him a few pointers on what to consider before signing up for anything!

Thanks for that! I looked for a website but all it'd give me was yellow pages and other directory entries! I wonder if its because I'm searching in the UK?!?

I was wondering if any of my US fellow members can help me. I have been speaking with my brother who lives in Greenbier, TN who has said that he is looking to get my 7 year old nephew into Karate. He is looking at a local Dojo called Robinson's Top Gun Karate Academy based in Greenbier! Does anyone know of them and can they give me some advice on style they teach and general quality of the teaching? Thanks DQ

What Kata did you learn? K. Jion and Hangetsu! Now working in Enpi (almost got it) and Kanku Dai (way off it)!

...followed by the euphoria of nailing it! Nailed a couple of advanced Katas this week! How does everyone else react to a new Kata. I always absolutely dread it, the alienness of each move particularly where moves are subtly different to one from previous Katas! I love learning!

I just had a conversation with my daughter who is 5th Kyu, who came home from training two weeks ago (I didn't go that night!) with a hefty bruise above her eye. She told me that someone had been wearing a watch and had caught her with it! I didn't say anything else assuming it would have been dealt with at the time and she says it was. She just told me that the watch wearer was this Godan. Apparently he is above safety measures too! Not sure where I stand as a 1st Kyu dealing with this!

Guys, I appreciate your support There are lots of politics that go way back to the 80s that, frankly, would take all day to type. This guy and my Sensei go way back (not particularly pleasant history), and this guy used to teach the Yondan...I think he was put in an awkward position, a position that the Godan should not have put him in! I have since my post, spoken to my club mates and it appears that the Yondan and other senior Dans have apprised my Sensei! Apparently the Godan had been coming on and off for a few weeks on the sessions I wasn't at! He has been passively undermining my Sensei in the changing room apparently! Its infuriating!

I apologise in advance for the long post! We had a guy come to training on last week who, many years ago, was a regular and is a Godan. Anyway, the club has moved on since he was there (way before my time) and my Sensei (who is 8th Dan) runs things perfectly and in accordance with his membership eg children and middle aged men and women! Anyway, Friday night, Sensei was not able to attend and left it to his usual second in command, a Yondan. Anyway, when this guy turned up (who had been sending his son to class for some time and had sat at the side lines and watched) he decided, as senior grade, to take control of the class. The Yondan allowed him to do this as we are all taught to respect senior grades. The Godan decided he would take the Black and Brown belts and told the other senior grades to split the junior grades up and train them. He then proceeded to train us with some very complicated combinations without a build up ie starting with two moves, then four then six before pulling them together. Instead, he showed us all a combinations in their entirety once and then got really angry when people made mistakes shouting things like, 'you're supposed to be black and brown belts' 'I've watched most of you train and frankly it surprises me that you have black or brown belts', that sort of thing. Anyway, one of the Sandans tried to respectfully explain how we normally train, and he basically said, well this is how I do and then gave the Sandan 20 press/push ups for his trouble. Actually, he was making all of us do press ups at the slightest infraction anyone did...it was like a huge ego trip for him! We then started line sparring and he was telling us to do techniques that I think were really dangerous, telling us to actually got to hit the person we are sparring in the head because 'thats what it would be like in a tournament...none of this tippy tappy nonsense'! (none of us are in it for tournaments, we're all mid 40s plus) and if the recipient got hit then it would teach them to be quicker! Anyway, when it came to my turn I made a mistake and instead of stepping to the side and punching, I stepped to the side blocked and punched to the upper chest (because I think going for the head in a training situation can be quite dangerous if you don't have excellent control...I'm not confident enough with mine for that, body yes, head no!) Anyway, he then says, because I made the error, 'pathetic, you call yourself a 1st Kyu? If you make another mistake I'll send you over to train with the kids' So I tried again and again instinctively blocked so he said 'right, thats it, go over and train with the kids' at which point I bowed, and said respectfully I will not do that, took my belt off and left the dojo! I was then followed by a few of the other black and browns who had also had enough of him. I can't stress how angry I was at this man, he had no idea of anyones medical history and was doing things that could have put people out of action. One colleague (a nidan) had not long come back after two years of knee operations due to karate, and two others are pensioners (one with arthritis), I myself have hip problems. He swept my colleagues dodgy leg, and did the same thing to the pensioners. Sorry its so long!! I have been doing Karate on and off for years and I have never done anything like this before. Met loads of 'bullies' in the Dojo but this really took the biscuit!

I think the only way you will get an answer to this question is to ask the club. Different clubs and affiliations have different rules on when a junior can take a grading. In my club, juniors can grade every 3 months providing they have the equiv of at least two sessions a week under their belt (excuse pun!) when they get to brown belt, there is a mandatory 6 months between belts again providing they have the equiv of 2 sessions per week. However, thats just my club and an example!

How did tonite's session go Jeden?

This the video I found and what I was expecting/hoping that the class would be about...unfortunately it couldn't have been further! It was the first one I found, and as I'm at work, lol, couldn't spend more time finding a video to the normal standard I put on. but a quick search gave me this not watched it but if its got the IJA seal its got to be good Thanks Dobbers, its impressive and I concur entirely that it is very similar to Wado.

This the video I found and what I was expecting/hoping that the class would be about...unfortunately it couldn't have been further!

If I had to describe it, I would say that its more like American high school wrestling. Both parties starting in specific positions, heads against each others, hands locked around necks. That sort of thing! The Goshin Jitsu i found on You Tube bears no resemblence to what they were doing last night! It looked a little 'faddy' and the belt system looked odd...lots of red, white and black stripes etc!