Gazrichards

Good post Mal. Don't tell the parents. That's likely to cause more problems and the parents could be the reason behind many of the issues. Talk to the kid, as a friend rather than an adult claiming to know better. If you are not the instructor then talk to him as its quite likely the kid holds the sensei in quite high regard. I had suspicions about a girl in my dojo a few years ago. She used to wear like thick tights on her forearms and said it was to protect her eczema. She was one of the loveliest kids I've ever taught and "didn't seem like the type" as she was outwardly happy. She then disappeared off the scene and told us that she was in hospital suffering asthma attacks. Turns out she was suffering with depression. the fact that I didn't try and act on what I suspected still bothers me a bit now (this is maybe 7 years ago!) If this is handled badly it could go really wrong so think hard about what to do. If yunarenthe instructor then you have some duty of care but if they are not cutting themselves in your class it isn't really any of your business. it may be that all you can do is let them know you are available to talk to if they want and try and be as normal as possible with them until they decide to talk.

"Not all black belts are created equal" always worth remembering that. The question of rank is always a dodgy one and if you look back on even kanazawa et al their gradings were far from standardised and they have been moving the goalposts for others ever since. People always add their grades up to award higher ranks. Maybe not for things like shodan but certainly in the higher reaches. How else does the 7th Dan get 8th dan? It's not a practice that I am find of which is why I have personally said I'm stopping at 5th Dan and see no benefit going further. I hope it didn't seem like I was pushing for the job of grading your students earlier either. I do genuinely hope I can help if you require it. If you know others then great. If you are stuck, give me a call and we can have a chat. I will add this though, if you do get someone to advise make sure that is exactly what they do. I've been through similar situations myself and peoples "advise" was actually just telling me how their org does it and that I must do the same. If you want a pragmatic, realistic dojo then your syllabus and gradings should reflect that. If competition is your thing then there is no good making your students learn tons of self defence drills. All the best, Gareth

I hold the rank of 5th Dan in shotokan and live within reasonable driving distance from you and I would have no problem at all coming to visit for a grading (not that you have asked......). My opinion is that there is enough money grabbing and un wanted politics going on in the martial arts that if I can help someone out or extend an olive branch and stop others going through some of the rubbish I have been put through then I will. I don't belive my advise would be useful purely as a "senior grade" but rather as someone that has sought the best advise out himself and taken the good and ditched the bad. But, why as a 2nd Dan can you not grade your own students to shodan? Who told you that? Probably a chief instructor of a former org you were a part of that wanted to keep you under his spell a few more years and cream some more cash off you. Considering that when I sought out someone to grade me to 5th Dan I was mostly told that it was common for people to build a panel of say a 4th Dan and 3rd dan (making a 7th dan!!!!!) to grade them, I would say that your students would be more than happy with being awarded a grade by their own instructor.

It all depends on what you want to get out of your karate really. Some people like to tick boxes and say they are members of such and such group and have train with this guy and that guy. These people are often confused when you say you are not a member of a mainstream org or that you have not got one particular sensei. In my eyes a grade awarded by an examiner that visits twice a year is worth far less than by one that has trained along side you and pushed you for months. The main orgs tend to go with the former approach rather than the later.

Most if not all of the "governing bodies" are actually just private companies run by the few to make some dosh. They buy insurance from the same company as we can get it from privately and charge a fee to include your club and members on the policy. I actually do this to a mate of mines club. He has a small group of approx 50 members and can't be bothered with the hassle of getting his own policy so he tags on to mine and throws me some cash. Best thing I ever did is leaving governing bodies well alone. Your lower grade students don't know any differance and I've actually seen my members grow in Dan grades joining me from other groups after they get fed up with ridiculous politics and rules set by their former organisation.

In my opinion the more of these so called governing bodies there are, the less need there is to join one of them as they become less credible. I run a club ( or group of clubs ) that represent approx 300 people. I buy my insurance policy direct from the company so that anyone in my dojo is insured. I then charge students an annual membership (often referred to as licence ) fee that covers this insurance out lay and some other running costs. any non members wishing to train in my dojo are welcome to do so but I charge them a higher rate for training but they are definitely still insured. There are not many companies in the UK offering martial arts insurance and most of the "governing bodies" will use the same company under the same terms. The insurance policy is often a member to member policy but does not require that you mention individuals it just allows your members to claim against each other. You can also get an instructors liability in case a student tries to claim against you. For the record I am actually a member of a few different organisations including the EKF but as a personal member or through some one else's club. Any inter club relations I do off my own back and I pick and choose what seminars and events I want to attend.

I think the closest you will find to what you are looking for is the Combudo series of tournaments. They are basically kyokushin karate but with grappling and throwing involved too. They tend to be fought by a good mixture of jiu Jitsu guys, MMA fighters (but with a trad background as gi must be worn) and various karate stylists. I have a few students interested from my shotokan dojos and they should be competing this year. Most of what was in the videos posted above is what I would refer to as Kudo or daido juko. The head guards used are usually referred to as kudo head guards. For more info look up lee hasdell and ssj dojo in Milton Keynes if you are UK based or I think there may be a group of dojos under the shin atemi banner. A bit of googling will bring something up I'm sure

I have done 10,000 punches in a day a few times (maybe 4 or 5 now) as charity challenges. It was tough and I'll be honest that of the 10,000 maybe only 50 were done with any tension or intent. The rest were just going through the motions and even chatting away to the other people doing the challenge with me to waste away the hours. The following day I don't think I would even dream of throwing a punch so certainly wouldn't do another 10,000!!!! 10,000 punches will take a few hours to complete too. We usually allowed about 4 hours to give breaks etc

I run shotokan classes in Milton Keynes. I'd say it's very likely I know the club you used to train at (hey there's a chance you are talking about mine!!!!! I hope not) You are more than welcome to attend some of my sessions and see if what we do suits. I also have a couple of sessions a week where just instructors and senior grades of various arts ( judo, bjj, mma etc) all meet and train together which you might be interested in but these tend to get quieter over summer months due to holidays etc

A club near to me awarded an honorary black belt to the women that did their secretarial work. She is the mother of one of the dan grades and had helped out for about 15 years. The day I found out that org went even further down in my estimation, what's wrong with a bunch of flowers? And how did the 1st kyus in the club feel that she got "black belt" for stamping some licence books?

The kata ones are crap, not worth the money at all. I've never had a kumite one or even seen one but blitz kits are generally just cheap and cheerful. My kata Kyoto gi is about ready for the bin after 18 months or so of not particularly heavy use (washed every 3 weeks at most-I have about 10 gi's that get rotated) Certainly not worth the £120 retail or whatever it should cost.

Ice for 10mins of every hour for as many hours as you can be bothered or see necessary. Ice will numb the pain and also shock the body into sending more blood to the area to heal. You could also try a little ice massage to work the area a bit more. Tiger balm and deep heat etc tend to just irritate the skin (even if you don't realise that is what is happening) and draw the blood away from the muscle and to the skin making you feel all warm and lovely in the short term but giving no long term healing benefits. When icing be careful and avoid the head and heart (and genitals) and no longer than about 10 mins at a time or adverse effects are likely. I am a physio and shotokan instructor by the way!

http://shinrikarate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/kata-analysis-tekki-shodan-bunkai-and_9.html This may be of interest to some of you. (Got deleted last time I posted it as a solo thread due to it being "advertising"????) In my opinion the difficulty in performing the kata developing the ability to use the hips correctly and effectively from a kiba dachi position. Also the micro movements involved with the wrists and forearms to create power development in the close quarters blocks and strikes can be hard to master.