Nidan Melbourne

Well Two Things; but they interrelate so much: 1. Relax!!!! When you relax, you develop and form better habits than when your tense. Also it prevents you from doing something silly that could lead to injury. 2. Listen to Your Body! Also means to remember that you need rest, as all humans do. Because if you don't then you will get hurt.

That I am capable of way more than I believed!

I practice my Kata/Forms in different ways like you said. It is honestly amazing to see what deficits that you may have by adding or removing something. On Monday we did all our kata without our Arms, which is harder than it looks especially with the more advanced kata. Other way we do it is without our legs, so we remain stationary and do all the related arm movements. If I get time tomorrow morning i'll film it and load it up.

Well deserved for your time here

When I teach a student to Kiai, I normally to tell them to do a short + sharp Kiai. I used to yell "Kiai" when I was told to do so, but years ago it seemed to have developed to a "aisha" or something similar.

Welcome to the forum KarateLdy. We look forward to discussing various topics with you. May I ask what style of Karate that you currently train in? So I can cater and adjust terminology appropriately.

People relax in different ways, for me it is to do Karate or listen to music (Rarely do I combine them). Whereas for you it might be something completely different. Often people are tense for reasons that they may not be conscious about or they are fully aware of. But for some reason they can't seem to offload those reasons, or there is just a lot on their plate that makes it difficult to relax. When I see students who are tense, i like to make them relax by getting them to laugh and have fun. Which works like an absolute treat, because they realise that is what they were missing. For you i'd recommend taking time off (if possible) for yourself and do what you enjoy with the pressures of everything else in your life. Often this works for those who have multiple sources saying the same thing in regards to being tense (among other things). But obviously that only works if you are able to financially take some time off + also have the annual leave to do so. Thanks for the response and the advice! I teach for a living, so I'm "mostly off" from work until the end of August. Yes, that helps immensely. My issues may stem from what I went through growing up - I was never very coordinated, and typically failed miserably when attempting anything physical (outside of art.) I was also bullied quite a bit. While those issues aren't immediately prevalent in my life, I still have some mindset issues that I need to work on. Well we are here to support you if you need people to talk to! I have always had tremendous respect for the hard work Teachers put in day in day out. Especially how hard and stressful it is for you and others to get through to the next generation. Being Bullied when you were younger takes a long time to get through and work through everything that happened. I'm 25 and was bullied in Primary School and part of Middle School, in which i'm still working through things.

The NCAS is the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme, which is a nationally recognized training scheme where we are taught the essentials of being a good coach along with the legal requirements as dictated by State and Federal Guidelines. It covers; coaching styles + principles, health and safety recommendations, legal guidelines and other information on how to be a good coach within' the Dojo and sporting realm. Only my Club has something called "Lead Instructors", we require them to have the NCAS Accreditation because it is recommended by the Australian Sports Commission and Australian Karate Federation that at least one person teaching has such qualifications. At present I am 1 of 3 people who have those qualifications in my dojo and as such I can lead a class with the knowledge of what is required of me legally and also of what records to keep.

People relax in different ways, for me it is to do Karate or listen to music (Rarely do I combine them). Whereas for you it might be something completely different. Often people are tense for reasons that they may not be conscious about or they are fully aware of. But for some reason they can't seem to offload those reasons, or there is just a lot on their plate that makes it difficult to relax. When I see students who are tense, i like to make them relax by getting them to laugh and have fun. Which works like an absolute treat, because they realise that is what they were missing. For you i'd recommend taking time off (if possible) for yourself and do what you enjoy with the pressures of everything else in your life. Often this works for those who have multiple sources saying the same thing in regards to being tense (among other things). But obviously that only works if you are able to financially take some time off + also have the annual leave to do so.

Can't lose belly fat fast unfortunately. You need to put more energy out than what you put in to lose weight. Some people will lose belly fat first before any other area, whereas some will lose fat off their glutes + legs first.

I have fought outside of my own style a few times, to give myself a reality check (of sorts). It was the best thing I ever did, because then I could grow and learn even more.

Would those who may be the most senior still be able to train under your master after he retires, or would they have to find someone else who is more senior to teach them?

I admit my dojo has a distinct lack of Groundwork, but that is due to the fact that we have no one who has a background in Judo, Jujitsu or BJJ. I trained for 3 years in BJJ back between 2007 - 2010, but in no way do I have the experience or knowledge to teach others certain techniques. However I do remember some of the basics that you learn at White Belt, but not a whole lot. When I can afford to do so, I do plan on going to train in BJJ regularly to get better at working on the ground. Which then in turn i'll be teaching my students (+ my instructors) additional groundwork stuff to expand their abilities.

Thanks for sharing this Alan, it is always good for people to be aware of this. Considering we all were told that you shouldn't do it because it leads to arthritis. Cracking of Joints is called 'Crepitus' and from what we know doesn't lead to Arthritis, as was previously a common myth. Here is a link for further information on it: https://www.arthritis-health.com/types/general/what-crepitus. Most GPs aren't always on top of this type of information, because of the huge number of cases they go through, so they may not have just had much use for this information until someone comes in asking about it.

Instructor Training? A way of teaching our new and current team of instructors to learn how to teach students in accordance with your Dojo/Organisations Curriculum and Guidelines. So in that how does your Dojo or Organisation do Instructor Training if any? In addition to that, does your organisation/dojo require any additional qualifications to be an instructor? This is what my Club Requires: Trainee Instructors - Lead Warm Ups in Class - Take a Small Group with supervision from an Experienced Instructor - Participate in Discussions with Instructors about progress - Test Students for in-grade 'tags' Requested - Level 1 First Aid + CPR - NCAS Bronze Dojo Certification Instructors Requested of all Instructors - Level 1 First Aid + CPR - NCAS Bronze Dojo Certification (Not Mandatory) Lead Instructors (Who can operate classes in absence of CI) - Level 1 First Aid + CPR - NCAS Bronze Dojo Certification (Course operated by the Australian Sports Commission)

In Martial Arts, I believe that there should be no Profanity of any kind whilst teaching or training. Why????? Because using profanity (in my eyes) is a lazy mans way of talking and using language. Do I use another language to use such language? Nope, no way jose.

My Club consists of 2 people who are more senior than myself (1 Sandan + 1 Godan). In which the Godan is the Head of my club. But if you look at all my fellow Nidans; there are 2 who have the knowledge of at least Yondan. I'm actually forging relationships with Instructors from my own style and other styles so I am able to continue to train even if my club no longer has the senior instructors at the top. It comes down to adaptation and my willingness to make changes, if a Senior Instructor thinks I could improve and adapt something to me physically.

It isn't just in the US, it is happening around the world where children are less "Fit" these days. Honestly I think it is partially because parents don't really encourage children to go out and have fun. But instead they are given iPads, Computers and Xboxes at a young age to keep them entertained instead. Also coming from a young person (25), it discourages us even more when we get compared to the "old days". Have I ever said those two words to my students? Nope. Back to the OP, it is in my view because the instructor is burnt out and that he has just done it for so long that he just can't keep it up anymore. More so we don't know what is going on the instructors personal life which could be impacting on it too. If you lose your passion for something, it does come through especially if you have done it for so long. But it does seep into the classes, because you just can't find that energy that you used to have to put into them. Also it is potentially because of the long term expectations on him to do everything, and that there hasn't been any relief for him to train and relax without those expectations from everybody.

My journey is slowly progressing, but progressing nonetheless. I currently am seeking a 2nd Dojo to train at, in which is a Non-Goju School as to expand my Knowledge. As i am addicted to learning Karate and want a bigger slice of the pie!

You should be able to do the kata itself as the WKF itself has stated that there are often different names for the same kata. But you should contact the Tournament Organiser as to see if it is allowed with them, as often they may go by modified rules. If it is an open tournament, where they are only using the rules and nothing else (i.e. the qualified referees) then you should be able to do that kata. But still worth checking, because it is better to find out beforehand over getting disqualified because you did a kata that wasn't permitted. From a Quick Google Search; Gankaku Sho is labelled (i'm 60% sure on this; because it is not a Kata my particular Ryu-Ha has) as Gankaku (listed as Gankaku) in the Rules. Whereas Gankaku Dai is also called Chinto which is also listed in the rules (under Chinto). Additionally; I have always known Gankaku Sho as "Gankaku" and Gankaku Dai as "Chinto". So it threw me when you called it Gankaku Sho. I have competed in 1 tournament, where they used the WKF Rules and Officials but permitted any kata to be performed as long as it conformed to your particular School and Style.

A lot of athletes see a lot more people in the Health Industry than the Fitness Industry. As many of my friends who are also Chief Instructors work in the Health Industry (Physiotherapy, Massage Therapy, Exercise Science + Exercise Physiology etc). There is a tonne of research going on in atm that can benefit martial artists. But you need to know how to read and interpret that research in how to apply it. I don't see any problem with people absorbing information, but if they don't take into account with other information that could impact ones health. And like JR said that you shouldn't just go for every fad out there.

I just want to say that coming from the US where martial arts is a completely unregulated market, I've never even considered that a school might get audited for what belt everyone is. I probably should have made my post clearer on that (my bad!!). When I say Audited, i mean that the Insurer may want to look into seeing what you have in terms of ranks in your books and in person. As the insurer may want to see whether in the clubs best interest or theirs if the level of cover is to remain the same or adjusted purely based of what they have seen. Because some (who specialise in Martial Arts Insurance) require you to inform them of what ranks and how many you have at each level at your club. Last year I visited a club, where they had a visit from their insurer to do a check because they [The Club] hadn't updated their records in several months and they had just expanded to a new location. And they were in trouble because they stated that they had more of a lower grade than they did when in reality they had mainly more senior students.

If they are regularly attending class, you should speak to them about it and that they should wear a White Belt regardless of whether the styles are similar. If your going to put a grade down for him in your books and insurance, make him a white belt because then there can be absolutely no confusion if you get audited. I have visited several dojo over the last couple of years, and informed the Instructors of my Previous Training and that I will be wearing a White Belt unless otherwise instructed. The only time I wore my Black Belt, is if I attended another Goju School and if I got permission to do so from the Chief Instructor. In my view you should approach it politely and respectfully, whilst reminding him that you are not trying to disrespect his years of hard work but there are differences between the styles.

Happy Birthday JR!!! Hope you have a wonderful day

I don't personally feel like they are intimidating, unless i interpret the tattoo and the person correctly. As some tattoos are done to say they have done certain things. Wouldn't say they are a fad, as they have been around for centuries. I personally don't have any tattos yet, but want to get a couple in a few years time. However they will be in locations that are easily concealed, due to them often being seen as unprofessional. When i get them, it will be to indicate important things in my life and my spirit guides.