advfhorn

So I was talking to a 4th dan tonight about it and he said they were watching her last night when I was not there. They said her technique is good, and with men she is fine. They said they think she is timid with me because I am a dominant female. Even though I don’t hurt her, I hardly touch her she is just timid and afraid. The adult men she was confident with. Its fine if its me, I can accept that. I am happy with the fact that they are monitoring this. Seems like they will make sure we both get what we need. The other point they made, which is true …. These teens did not grow up with me (bc I switched dojos). She is more comfortable with those adults bc she had known them for a long time. Personally I believe testing and rank is individual to the Sensei and the student. My biggest concerns are about each of us getting what we need, everyone having fun, stay safe and learn. I feel bad she doesn’t want to work with me, but its okay.

Suggestions on working with a special needs teen/adult who feels I am too agressive. I am a 45 yr old female testing for Blackbelt (with 8+ yrs experience). She is a 17 or 18 yr old female with special needs. She is quiet and not aggressive.

My previous school only allowed his instructor to wear black ... from my experience as a woman doing this 8 years ... if a girl wants to wear black gi pants .... just let her

IMHO: it should not be your decision, it should be your Sensei's decision

It can be mounted to support post or installed right on my floor. I want it to have give. The wall mount ones I saw have a spring in them.

its been a slow process (almost a year) but our new addition of a home dojo (hojo) is coming along. I was also looking into a Makawara. I saw the wall mounted ones and wondered about them but I have the floor space. I can mount it in the corner of the dojo. My concern more was height. I am 5'2" and my husband is 5'10". I more want it for feedback on proper technique. Any suggestions? I rather buy it if possible only bc my husband's time is taxed with building this new space among other things and if I ask him to build one more thing he may want a divorce lol I also considered removing the pad to an old standing bag and just wrapping the rope around it?

oh wow. Thank you! You are very kind. I am humbled by this recognition. In the 8 years I have done karate you all have been a staple in my development in the martial arts. I see the amount of experience you all hold as awesome and diverse. It means a great deal to me to be recognized by you. I feel very fortunate to have found this group. I only post when I have something to say, I am always here taking in the vast amount of experience this group has to offer. Thank you! - and I love the rainbow belt

I saw homedepot and walmart, and that is an option. To Bulltahr point I don't mind laying down a floor and just using mats as needed .. we were mostly concerned about too much weight and it being too cold .... being over a deck (which now has a roof)

Can anyone get me a discount or a good price on puzzle mat flooring? We are building a "homo dojo" and will be covering 12 wide by about 18' long (the last two feet wide we have to cut around support posts every 8 feet) ... therefore we were leaning toward puzzle mats. What do you think?

What other people do does not bother me. IMHO anyone's blackbelt (or rank for that matter) is a visual recognition of where their Sensei believes they are at in learning or understanding.

My experience of being with a Sensei for 7.5 years that something just as not quite "right" between us .... LEAVE! He is not the best teacher for you, stop wasting your time and $ and find a more suitable teacher for you. Teachers are not "one size fits all".

my personal experience - my Goju Ryu Sensei of 6.5 yrs (I was 2nd Kyu) was strongly opposed to me starting Shorin Ryu (and I felt and still feel) for the wrong reasons. The Shorin Ryu instructor explained how hard it would be to both switch and dual study (he was very right) HOWEVER I did it anyway for 1 year and eventually quit the original (Goju Ryu) bc 1. the original Sensei stalled me out of advancement bc he was so mad 2. Doing both was much harder to learn new bc your body relies so much on muscle memory 3. With the above two reasons I got tired of paying for both Had I chose MMA or something totally different than two "karate styles", I prob would have faired better. For ME it worked out bc I learned the most important lesson and that was "i love karate and sometimes you are just not training in the right dojo for YOU"

No I think as long as there "karate" there will be a Dogi and Obi Story: In the 7 years prior at my old school (that Sensei's age is about 40) sometimes people would forget their belt and they would usually just wear a dojo T-shirt and stand at the end of the line when we lined up (lower rank than white belt). I came to my new school (Sensei is about 70 yrs old) with no belt one day and the Sensei said "no how are you going to hold your gi closed?" ... I replied I was not going to wear it, just a dojo T-Shirt .... all I will say is .... Learn learned!!

6.5 years into training I started dual training another similar karate style. My original instructor was not okay with it (its been 1 yr now). I highly doubt I will ever achieve Shodan under him. I am a high motivated respectful student and love my new dojo as well. I learn a lot, I practice a lot, martial arts is a way of life for me.

- Are you still moving? One of my schools is talking about maybe moving to a smaller space. I hate to see that happen only bc another school I was in years ago, people quit bc they did not like the change.

1. Just curious who all is still outside? 2. If so are you wearing masks? 3. Are you doing contact? if so with masks? without gloves/gear? I am curious bc I know my Sensei is suffering from the challenges of teaching outside (no mirror and distanced apart) and what seems to affect him MOST is the mask not seeing faces. 1. He had a few parents refuse to send their kids after he did not mandate masks (keep in mind we are outside and 10+ feet apart from each other). 2. The majority of those coming are to the "adult" class and are those that have been training 7+ years. 3. he is not charging tuition just $10 a session to pay some expenses 4. we have a small dojo and cannot social distance inside

After training in Goju Ry for 6 years and now in addition training Shorin Ryu (Shidokan) .... my Shorin Ryu Sensei keeps telling me to "relax". Perhaps I have not learned the Ryu part of Goju Ryu yet To me the most obvious differences was no body shifting, very circular movement on the blocks, most stances are lower (sheiko) .... Shorin ryu there seems to be a pattern of back stance to block and front stance to attack, which I do not see in Goju Ryu katas (with the exception of the Cat Stance).

Thanks guys. I have really been asking myself recently what I love about karate and the things I like, and are they really karate. These perspectives helped.

just curious - when someone says "old school karate" what do you think of?

maybe I am terming the kyu wrong (White, yellow, orange, blue, purple, green, brown, black). Goju Ryu is absolutely muscle memory (6.5 years its been MY LIFE, eat sleep breath karate) and makes the Shorin Ryu movements more difficult, that is part of what I like (a challenge) ... to me a challenge is refreshing. I also like that the new Sensei sees things that also help improve my goju ryu (like he picked up I was not returning kicks to chamber, ... and not always keeping my shoulders straight forward when in a front fighting stance (which is incorrect for both disiplines). The Shorin Ryu Sensei is not upset at all that he sees Goju Ryu, he just points it out, and comments when he sees me try and getting better. yeah thanks, I am prob going to have to decide between the two dojos at some point

6.5 yrs training Goju Ryu (7th kyu, brown) and on a long pause for advancement for non skill reasons I am trying very hard to work out with head Sensei (yes personality conflict with him, no issues with other instructors) .... frustrated thinking I might want to leave Goju Ryu dojo I tried a local Shorin Ryu dojo and loved it. Training both for the last two months, Shorin Ryu Sensei very patient with me trying to learn punches and kicks and stances all new to me and the katas are very different ..... and I am being very careful to not mix the two disciplines. Shorin Ryu Sensei is okay with me doing both ..... Goju Ryu Sensei not okay we me adding new. Have any of you trained two traditional Okinawa disciplines at the same time? BTW I practice both daily.

At 51 my husband cannot kick above knee height so he keeps his kicks to no contact but focuses on joints, cross stomps etc. At 42 I can barley kick (depending on the person's height) so I usually try to get some shots in when my opponent is kicking. My favorite it to force them against the wall and get in so they can't kick ....... or I drop them (if I can)

I don't know these Sensei's ... my own instructors do not teach that way, or act that way ... but we are not a tournament school either. There were several of these "guys" in the room at this tournament. It was only my 2nd tournament so I am not sure if this is "typical".

I was at a tournament yesterday watching some of these Sensei's clearly using "intimidation" as their method to get kids to move or do as they wanted. Than I was standing in line with "older" woman all who started within the last 2 years and a Sensei came in and kind of started the same tactic with us ..... which we clearly put to an end in a "motherly not taking your egocentric personality ... as politely as a woman not taking your crap" kind of way. The Sensei laughed, we laughed and all was good ....... BUT it raised the question in my mind .... .... most of these Sensei's are 30-50 years old? and male? and specializing in dealing with children .... is it a challenge for them to learn how to encourage and inspire and teach us older woman just starting martial arts at 40+?

Like with anything else the more you do it, the more confident you will become. Going the most prepared for it as possible is always best. Literally setup a square at home and practice the rei to everyone, pretend judges are there etc etc. In practice DO NOT STOP if you mess up. keep going. maybe in video and watch yourself in practice to you can see what you look like and try to be more like how you see others that are good. BTW I am 42 yr old Mom and our son is 11. he started 6 years ago (just got his junior Black belt) and I started 5.5 years ago and my husband (now age 51) started 4.5 years ago. We are a karate family and we love every min of it. We are not competitive and found the tournaments were not really for us, but we cannot imagine our lives without martial arts. Keep up the good work ... its a great thing for a family to do together.