Nidan Melbourne

Well thats a surprise and thank you for whoever nominated me and voted for me in the Community Spirit Category.

Thanks for lettin me know.

How are you performing the Lunge? Tbh Lunges in my opinion are actually an important thing to do, because you are loading your joints and forcing the muscles to engage in positions that are less than advantageous in comparison to say a Squat. Thats why people feel stronger when doing squats, because their centre of gravity is closer to that of a standing person. Whereas lunges are (in a way) an exaggerated step. I have a shotty knee myself, but with lunges I teach people instead of doing a "Full" normal rep is to work up to it. Also being able to do a lunge, is a factor to preventing falls as your body is stronger in different positions. But you do need to ensure that you are doing it properly.

That i true, i'm not sure about you guys but here in Aus a lot of seamstresses/tailors are Korean or Chinese. So it doesn't hurt asking. Do you have your heart set on having it in Hang Gul?

Are you attending any AA Meetings at all? Or have a mentor to help you on your way? It might be worth spending some time each day attending a meeting or two if you are feeling vulnerable. As your able to redirect that energy and to talk out how you feel.

I'd say a Dietitian or a Nutritionist would be a better approach IMHO! But a doctor would be fine to do the bloods and give you a direction to work with once results come back. The only reason why I say that, is because Doctors aren't trained to provide Diet Advice whilst Nutritionists/Dietitians are solely trained on that. If anything if they (the doc and nutritionist) work together to provide a comprehensive approach to your overall health.

Thats a good plan; the only thing i'd say if you want to improve your Bloods is: - Remove unnecessary sugars (Soda*, Energy drinks and majority of the 'moderation' category) - *Soda: I don't know if you have it where you are, but Soda Water (its just fizzy water without additives - you can make it with a Soda Stream). It is great to have without all the sugars and other stuff that's in Soda (Like Coke, fanta etc). I just noticed though that you have it already as Carbonated Water! Keeping your Hba1c (3 month maker of glucose attaching to bloods) down is a big one; which doctors tend to look at along with how you go with testing your blood sugars at the time of the blood draw. So as you go without the extra sugary things (I know US foods and drinks can be notorious for it) long term; you can reduce the risk of running into Type 2 Diabetes. I admit I had to convert gallons to litres (yay metric system); 1.89L throughout the days seems like a reasonable amount to have if your not as active throughout the day. But like most of us, 1.8L may not be sufficient. When I was in the Pallet Racking World; cold days i'd have 2 Litres easily on hot days >4L. then throw in training; where i'd have a further 2L. I can understand why you are inspired to do something similar to an athlete; but you do need to remember that he is an a Professional Athlete who trains 5-6 days/week + 1 Match weekly for 20-30 weeks of the year. And you aren't in that position. One thing I have noticed when people do a "new" diet is that they do one that doesn't work for their body.

every step of the Seikai Taikai I'd love to see happen in the real world, but no weaponry to be on site. The Tag-Team or the whole team going in at it until a Captain gets taken out. That would be fun to see; moreso if was in a WKF type Tournament.

Congrats on the promotion! I've also had a few former students (now friends with them and instructors also) overtake me in rank. I used to have an inflated ego where I didn't like that idea happening. Now i don't care so much, because everyone is on their own journey.

Both our Dan Grades and our Kyu Grades follow a similar format. - Warm Up - Kihon - Combinations - Kata - Senior Grades demonstrate 1 at a time their grading kata + 1 additional - Pre-arranged Sparring (Gyakusoku, Bunkai , Kyogi) - This is generally the reason why our Black Belt Gradings run so long; especially with more people! - Depending on number of Candidates grading for each dan grade; Bunkai will take approx 25 minutes - Kyogi omg can take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. as you are limited to the number of instructors. Under 15 = 15 Kyogi, 16+ = 25. - If you have 5 instructors, then 5 pairs go at once. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2-3 hours. - Kumite

Just to wrap things up with this post. I attended his funeral and was very well attended by members of our Old School Community and our Year Level. In addition to members of his University Alumni and Work Colleagues. Our old school offered the family the use of the chapel, but since it was unfortunately undersized for the number of attendees, they provided the sports gymnasium (2 basketball courts), which was full to the brim with people, including some staff members who had involvement with our year level during our school years (2005-2010). I was asked to give a speech on behalf of the school community. I brought up that yes it is a sad time, as we lost someone too soon but it is also just as important to celebrate the life that he lived and that we should remember that. As the family has already gone through that period of mourning, so a celebration should occur. Which got me thinking about the people I've lost over the years, but also the music that I want people to remember me by and how they would celebrate my life.

Right now? I'd go back to my White Belt Days and restart. Although to be truthful, I am planning on doing that when I get back into the dojo until I feel like I am worthy of holding the Nidan Grade I earnt nearly 10 years ago.

Thanks for sharing Brian. I'm looking forward to seeing where this site goes over the coming years. And look forward to the many zooms that's going to happen over the years.

Thanks for sharing your experience being a first timer at a Dan Grading. It is definitely a different experience to being an examiner. I've sat on a few BB Grading panels over the years, but we don't have a requirement of being a Nidan. We permit Shodan-Ho's with sufficient teaching experience (usually 2 yrs) to sit on our panel. As you should expect them to have enough knowledge to recognize good kihon vs. bad kihon. Although, from my experience at Gradings where people are attempting any dan grade above their rank, they do provide feedback but often when it comes to Kata or certain Pre-Arranged Sparring they provide less feedback. I agree with that feedback regarding distancing, as my perspective is that you need to be close enough to hit and mean it. Like not super close where it looks like your going to be doing Patty Cake Paddy Cake (That hand clapping game that young girls play) but not too far away. Also we say to candidates that are attempting any dan grade, that if you are going to hit someone then do it. It is the responsibility of your partner to either block it or get the heck out of the way. Our more advanced students (typically our instructors) understand what that means. And are capable enough to understand what is expected during each section, especially when it comes to contact, distance and timing. Where you look is a biggie too for anyone, what we say is look straight ahead (or where you have to) and stare through it with lasers. No matter what is happening, you maintain your focus.

So recently a couple of friends of mine were recently to Godan (5th Dan) in Shorin-Ryu. But from memory one was a Wado Practitioner and the other was a Shito Practitioner. Now I don't know much about Shorin-Ryu's History along with Wado or Shito. So What I am asking is what are the similarities and differences between Shorin-Ryu and Wado/Shito?