renketsu

http://muttley.tomelliott.net/~tom/drivingcarefully.jpg The photo says it all

Depending where you are, Mugenkyo are definitely worth a listen/watch. I have seen them twice in the UK and they tour regularly - details are on the website. They have a CD for sale on the website (I have it and it is good) for £12 and you can listen to some of the tracks for free by the looks of it. Andy.

28 Feeling it too

https://www.sangakukarategroup.co.uk The website for our group of clubs, contains general karate info besides club specific stuff.

I put 21-30 as this reflects my own club. Our association though has 500ish students and instructors. Andy.

How did you get this... is this the standard AMA insurance or a private policy as an aside to the normal insurance? I have $5m instructor's indemnity from the AMA (UK thing) and will be paying through the club for my two assistant instructors this time round as they only teach at my request. Any student of shodan and above who is willing to sub-teach if asked can train with me free of charge, I am also allowed to train free of charge with my own senior instructor. Regards, Andy.

I dont know about anyone else but I wouldnt want to try stopping someone hitting me on the head with a bo by catching it - I would imagine that would break several bones in your hands. I favour the idea of using weapons to defend against weapons and have been taught a similar move to that one in Bassai Sho when I trained in kobujitsu. Jutte is another contentious kata... I pasted this before showing Jutte being done using a bo and it looks pretty much perfect to me (yep I've tried it)... the idea behind using open handed moves (versions of weapons moves) to hide the fact that you are training to use weapons sounds feasible. Just my opinion. Andy.

Hi, Does anyone know of the White Tiger Karate Club/Association in the Wigan area (North West England)? I have had a mate ask about it and I have never heard of them and am looking for some background info/website etc (I have looked on Google but cant find anything). I will advise him to check the usual stuff but am looking to forwarn him incase it is a McDojo Cheers, Andy.

Yeah CoF are good and I dont mind the growling, but it takes some explaining when I give someone a lift in the car and I am playing CoF! I have to say 'Dusk and her embrace' is my fave song of all of theirs, although 'Shallow be thy grave' (cover of Hallowed be thy name by Maiden) is up there too Yeah... I have the Velvet Revolver Contraband album in my car and its definitely growing on me. I never was a big GnR fan and dont have any of their albums so cant really compare the two bands much! Andy.

Should I take offense at this comment (or is it an unlikely coincidence)? Depending on which websites you were looking at - I could take this as a personal insult... deriding my grade/ability/instructors who promoted me etc. This is my profile on our group website (which starts off as "The senior instructor of Renketsu Karate Club is Sensei Andy Wilkinson (3rd Dan) who has been training for over 11 years"). I am 28 (obtaining my sandan in sept 03 following a very physical grading conducted by my 6th and 5th Dan instructors), I run my own club as a hobby (yep, I work for a living too) with about 20 students and I purposely charge low rates (to ensure that the club stays afloat but that is it): * £2 per lesson * £5 per Kyu gradings (conducted by my 6th dan instructor) * £20 for Dan gradings (conducted by my 6th dan instructor) * £5 for courses Therefore, its pretty obvious that my grade is not an attempt to promote a McDojo by having an "inflated Dan grade" as implied. It is commonly accepted in the UK (for Shotokan Karate) that the gap between Dan grades is a minimum of the same number of years as the next grade from the date of your last grading, ie: 2nd - 3rd = 3 years 3rd - 4th = 4 years 4th - 5th = 5 years 5th - 6th = 6 years etc etc. Our grades are registered with the EKGB (English Karate Governing Body) and AMA (Amateur Martial Association) in accordance with their rules of time spent training. It is such a pity that 24fightingchickens.com has gone, there was a brilliant article on there about grades and how non-standard they are and how people think someone else's grade effects them... oh well never mind.

I "inherited" a dying class when I was a first dan aged 21!! There were 3 other students left: a junior 2nd dan (who left within weeks - hopefully not due to me!) a senior 2nd kyu a junior 1st kyu (who left after attaining shodan) So I effectively started from scratch by recruiting new students (I had a grading for 18 students last night and the club is now doing very well) and have kept the "senior 2nd kyu" as one of my seniors, she is now a 2nd dan and I guess she counts as someone I have taken under my wing Andy.

V reg Ford Fiesta (1.25 Zetec) in a funky blue/purple colour If I could afford any car I would probably go for the comfort approach rather than out-and-out speed and get a top of the range 7-series bmw or on a poseur day it would be the knight-rider lookalike 8-series bmw. Andy.

It was my dad who suggested it to my younger (much younger) brother and I... we both joined and then after a few weeks dad joined as well. Both of them stopped training within a couple of years but I was hooked and am still there 11 years later Now being the only person from my family and circle of friends who trains, I have no practise partner away from the dojo Andy.

£5 ($9ish) for coloured belts (kyu grades) £20 ($37ish) for black belts (any dan grade - there is no increasing scale.) Coloured belts are an extra £3 ($5.5ish). Black belts are included for people passing 1st dan. Dan grade registration with the AMA (Amateur Martial Association) is included in the £20. Certificates are included in both sets of prices. Andy.

Thank you all for the replies... all seemed to generally agree with the idea The problem I would have is that my club is part of a group of clubs, run by my instructor (6th Dan) and I would have to ask him before doing anything such as changing the "uniform" on a permanent basis... I could imagine some of his students training with me and running off to tell the boss Initially, the idea would be any plain white T-shirt or polo shirt and if that was a hit then next year would be embroidered only... they are likely to be under a tenner each (looking at the prices on the web - cheers for the link Aefibird ) It's the same idea as my club badge... it's a requirement that you wear the badge on your Gi once you have licenced (only £3). Oonyuudou - The thought of people practising in their underwear is generally highly unappealing (there are some exceptions of course ) Andy.

I mentioned this in another thread but I will expand on it here... I am wondering if anyone has ever trained at a club where the gi top is not worn during the summer months and a white T-shirt (possibly with a club logo) is worn instead (not just for self defense training nights). Obviously this would not work for lessons where there is a lot of throwing/grabbing techniques - hence why we have Gis (adapted from the Judo Gi for that reason). The dojo I use is not air conditioned (its in a UK school) and can get very hot which would make a T-shirt more applicable during summer months. Before anyone says I am considering doing this for the cash... thats not even a consideration The T-shirts if they were embroidered with the club logo would be as cheap as possible. Am I being a heretic who should be burned at the stake for thinking about going against the norm - or is this a reasonable idea? Andy.

We have a rule (whether its done anywhere else or not I dont know)... if you are asked to teach by the senior instructor then you are teaching on behalf of them with their grade. This may sound a little wierd but it works for us... If I ever ask a brown belt to run the warm up whilst I talk to parents etc (you know how it gets sometimes) I always remind the class that whilst this brown belt is teaching he "assumes" my rank of 3rd Dan and they should treat him as they would treat me! Embarassment is a good alternative if the other suggestions dont work... stop the class and get him to teach the kata in a loud authorative voice using japanese terminology and then ask him loads of questions... make him realise it is not an easy task Andy.

11 years in Shotokan Karate - that makes me the only one in the 10-15 category Also with (strangely) 9 months each of Ninjutsu, WTF TKD and Kobujitsu thrown in over the years; and hardly worth a mention but I have done a quick lesson or two in Judo, Aikido, Wado Ryu Karate, Hun Gar Kung Fu and Wing Chun Kung Fu just for curiosity. Andy.

It all depends on what you want from karate... I have never wanted to be a good street fighter, a badass, feared etc... I have never been in a real fight even though I have had opportunity to... I would sooner walk away and not end up in court (or worse). You hear stories about karateka (among other MAs) being imprisoned for ABH/GBH etc when defending themselves, not something I want Kickboxing or MT (as far as I know) etc does not provide you with the ability to dodge bullets or deal with someone who pulls a knife on you... which seems to be strong possibilities now-a-days if your opponent doesnt take being beaten lightly. Andy.

Sorry there was a word in there I didnt understand - "ironing" Us blokes dont understand how they work you know (only joking ) My gi is like cardboard (heavyweight) and takes far too much effort for the rewards... roll your gi up (saw this in a book years ago and its brilliant) and the creases drop out Anyone know of any traditional groups train in T-shirts rather than Gi tops during summer? Seems a reasonable idea when the dojo is 100 degrees F and students are melting... the only reason I can see for a Gi top is when you are being thrown etc and it needs to be strong enough to not rip apart. Andy.

Two things to remember IMO: 1.. The KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid)... I like the ideas behing you demo - just dont go overboard and try and be too smart... it can backfire! 2.. Keep going... most people wont know if you mess Kanku Dai up so if you do - keep on going as if you havent I am considering this for "self-defense" lessons... make it seem more real, kicking with trainers on etc is not the same as without! Control is needed to make sure there are no injuries but I think I can make it work. No... but the snapping noise it makes does make you sound like you are a super karateka Andy.

Flexibility - Stretching Scientifically, Thomas Kurz In-Breath timing of kata - Advanced Karate-do, Elmar Schmeisser Channan / Bunkai of Heians - Channan: Heart of the Heians, Elmar Schmeisser Lots of reading and trying stuff out Andy.

Not yet but I cant wait First two were good but the new one looks much darker and more sinister with the new director making his mark. Andy.

One I wanted to learn was Unsu as it looks pretty amazing when done properly. I have always had the desire to learn kata and lots of it, so when I was taught a new one I practised it until I could remember it fully... although it took 3 seperate goes over the years at learning Tekki Sandan to make it stick properly!! One I definitely didnt want to learn (although I know it now) is Hangetsu... watching that done properly made me realise that it is a very hard kata to do... I was a skinny 19y/o when I first saw it performed and I couldnt do the dynamic tension well enough to have done the kata justice. Andy.

Here is a step-by-step pictorial guide to doing Jutte with a bo. Its not my work and I dont claim to be able to do this convincingly (yet), but its good fun trying! The author (Elmar T Schmeisser) puts a plausible set of moves together to run through the kata completely and he could well have found the main reason that Jutte exists (to practise bo moves without attracting attention to the fact!). Andy.