muttley

Ok, so I have been asked to come up with something that can be delivered to young offenders (juveniles) to try and break the cycle of offending. I firmly believe that if the youth of today had something positive like Karate in their life, then gang membership, drugs, crime, violence would be a far less dominant part of their life. The idea would be to deliver something to the offenders while in custody and try to set up links with clubs in the young persons area for after release so that they can continue training after release from custody. This in any ordinary setting would be a simple thing, but the issue is pitching it at the right level for management to take seriously and trying to get across that there will be no contact in training, the training will be Kihon and Kata only. Trying to pitch the benefits of Karate such as self esteem, self control, respect etc...I personally am very passionate about this and feel that by introducing these young people to things that they may not have looked at previously could stop them from offending and by introducing positive role models to them, could continue this after custody. Any ideas on if this type of thing could work or has been tried before elsewhere?

明けましておめでとう akemashite omedetou

Terry O'Neil should host

Just finished this, far too short, but a very good read that has certainly opened my eyes to a lot of stuff. Something I will definitely be reading more into.

I have just started to read this on my Kindle. I must say, it is opening my eyes a bit to some more sides of the martial arts and ideas that will (hopefully) help me to be a better person in the long run.

Great advice , I was going to mention youtube ,all the katas are there by top people . Congradulations on your return after 22 years , I recently returned to training after a long lay off ,it seems the bug never leaves your body ! It never leaves the body (or mind) it seems. I already feel like my, confidence is back, more relaxed, more "at one" I guess just after 2 sessions.

I was introduced to the idea of Tai sabaki years ago by a Sensei of mine who had come to Shotokan from another style of Karate, at the time I had just gained my Shodan and was amazed at the timing Sensei had, it was as if he would move just at the point an opponent was expecting to land the strike. At first I thought all my Sensei was evading the attack, then I started to look at the position Sensei ended up in and how much of the attackers body had been opened up for a counter attack. I seriously wished I had the skill to "avoid" as my Sensei had. Now I am back in training and looking at the "art of Tai sabaki" more due to where I work (narrow, confined areas filled with young offenders) and realising how useful Tai sabaki can be to "evade or avoid" a potential attack, leaving myself with and escape route at best, at worst, giving me time to think. The thing I found hard to get into my head was when a Sensei would say things like "leave moving until the last possible moment, until your attacker cannot change what he is doing", that to me meant I was going to get hit! Obviously, if you get it wrong, you can get hit, however get it right and I avoid not only an attack, but also possibly paperwork!!! The thing I want to ask is, do we spend enough time studying Tai sabaki in the dojo to encourage students that we sometimes don't even have to touch the opponent to get the better of them and that, in the eyes of the law, by not touching an opponent, yet gaining an advantage over them, we can demonstrate in everyway that what we had done was to act in self defence?

To me, it is a major part of Karate, it's almost like a belief system, but not in a religious way. People who train in Karate long enough realise that there is more to it than being able to punch someone very hard, it becomes part of your life, something I missed in my life in the years I wasn't training.

I trained with Enoeda Sensei (once) and I have had a few sessions with Ohta Sensei a few times in the past, can't wait for more nights like those in the future.

I am just pleased to be back in training, just dug out my Shodan certificate so I can g et my KUGB License sorted (they required proof of grade)

See that is what should be happening but it's all too much about the money.

Right, 2nd session back in my return to training, tonight we went through Sochin. Now, this is a kata I have only done a few times prior to me having to stop training, the basics of the kata seem to be there, but the transitions just seem to be gone, especially from the double block (jodan/gidan) through to the next (slow) move off the opposite hand! I know that these kata will come back eventually, I just can't believe how little of it I can remember and it's annoying.

I do seriously think that having something for "the youth of today" to get involved with that requires a strict discipline would negate a lot of the trouble they get into. Thats one reason why I despise these clubs that charge the earth for people to train.

A long time ago (well it feels it now at least), I did a presentation at a previous employment while going for a promotion. The position was that of "team leader", basically supervise others for a bit each day on top of the normal job, the job was in a fairly busy call centre. The presentation had to be on something I had knowledge of and something that could relate to work in one way or another. As I had studies Shotokan for some time, I decided I would use this as the basis of my presentation, proudly going into some detail about the history and meaning of Karate to a bunch of types who didn't know the first thing about the art. I went on about kumite, kata, gradings etc etc and then, right at the end of my powerpoint (complete with video integrated I'll have you know), I quickly brushed over how I can use this amazing skill I had gained to help myself and others in the work place by using it to help me remain calm and focused etc when a difficult customer is on the other end of the phone. Little did I know, that now, some 10 years later, Karate is far more important in my life than I had ever thought it would be a decade ago. Now, in my current job (working with young offenders), I can see how the things I brushed upon at the end of my indepth presentation are, actually some of the most important things that Karate has ever taught me! Remaining calm and focused even when faced with a recalcitrant young person who is not affraid to use violence against you to get what he wants (and often does), has managed to keep me out of being on the receiving end of a punch too many times to remember, and that is without me having to actually use any form of physical intervention. Yes, sometimes I do have to use some form of self defence in my line of work, but by remaining clam and focused, it's not as often as it could be. Now, having worked with young offenders for a few years, I can't help but think that, if they had something like karate in their life, they may not have fallen foul of the long arm of the law and ended up inside, instead realising that materialistic things, causing harm to others etc is not what it is about and not the be all and end all of life itself. Mind you, having said that, I'd quite probably be out of a job if that were the case!

I have trained in Shotokan initially as a self defence art. I have been in several confrontational situations in my line of work and now instruct control and restraint as a part of my job. In my opinion, there is no such thing as one strike, one kill and if you are thinking there is, you will be left in a world of pain. The only way to train for a confrontational situation is to train regularly and train with the mentality that you are facing someone intent on delivering a world of pain to you. Maintain good levels of fitness and condition your body to getting hit. Anyone who says they have never been hit in a fight is a liar IMHO. Also anyone who is training in self defence needs to learn to control the effects of adrenaline otherwise you will start with the tunnel vision, auditory exclusion etc etc, control the negatives, enhance the positives!

Feignt mai Geri chudan off front leg straight to mawashi Geri jodan, land into front jab, leading arm gidan block into a spear hand strike with rear hand

Cheers, I ordered volume 2 of Karate Kata applications, £5.99 from ebay, simples

Many thanks

I really need some help getting the more advanced kata back into my head!!! Can anyone recommend any books with black belt kata in it so I can study at home easier and jog my memory?

Mine has to be Bassai Dai or Heian Godan.

I can't believe how many different Shotokan associations there are now in the UK. When I first started training, I am pretty sure there were only the JKA, KUGB and maybe the EKGB. This I thought was enough, however now there are all kinds of different associations, NAKMAS, ESKA, JSKA, BSKA....are these all really necessary? I remember when NAKMAS first set up, someone from KUGB came and spoke with myself and a colleague about them purely as they were having some quite major concerns about the associations credentials etc, especially considering the origins of this "National" association are rooted in a sleepy seaside location in Kent! Having been to a few NAKMAS clubs in my search for a new club, I was alerted to the sheer number of junior black belts they have, being that I saw an unusual number of black belts aged around 9 years old, I started to ask myself what exactly was being taught, how can a 9 year old really understand what it means to be a black belt? I became even more alarmed when I went to a club once as a returning black belt to Shotokan after many years out to be told "Give us a month or 2 of training you and you will be taking your own lessons and looking to set up your own club". These "McDojo's" are, in my opinion killing off the tradition of Karate and it disappoints me that they continue to grow. I have seen clubs run by so called "sensei's" who just seem to want to bully the juniors into doing things their way rather than letting the student discover the art for themselves, it seems that they have a set time frame for students to get from 1st kyu to 1st dan as if they then earn more money out of it. Why can't clubs be run the way they used to be when I first started Karate 30 years ago where you rocked up at your local club and pay when you arrive rather than students having to commit to paying £X each month by direct debit and if you don't train, you lose out financially? Is money ruining our art? Unfortunately, I fear it is.

As I said in previous post, I returned to Shotokan after several years out. My main reasons are that I felt I was losing my patience all too quickly and that's not good in my line of work. I also want my cardio fitness levels to improve. so what's everyone else's reason?

Thank you. I look forward to really getting back into it and hopefully progress

Cheers, I am sure I will get there sometime.

Ok, so I returned to training on Monday night after several years out. I had gained my 1st dan before having to give up due to many reasons, work, family life, moving home and not finding a club to name a few. Anyway, now I have a club that I like (after 1 session and a recommendation) and I am looking forward to my next session. The only thing is I do feel something of a fraud, I returned and as I only had my black belt to, I wore it but could only remember up to Bassai Dai in the kata which made me feel pretty bad. Anyone else been in a similar position and does it take a while to get the kata's back in your head? Also, is it worth getting a book with the kata in just to refresh my somewhat jaded memory?