Nidan Melbourne

At my old dojo I couldn't tell you how many Black Belts there were/are because the club had operated for 15 years or so prior to me joining. So now there could be hundreds if not thousands. At my current club we have or had around 50-60 Black Belts in the last 8 years of training. Many of them came across as Black Belts.

I have been through many schools for different MAs and most of them were like that. Regarding the contract, tbh I hate this idea because the contract will be all the time in the favour of the school not the student and with possibility of circumstances changing every now and again, I will never lock myself in a contract. Even when I am looking for gym, I will go for one with no contract even if it's not as good as the contract one ! I hate seeing Contracts being used at schools, because it is a hard thing to judge for each individual person and whether it is a good fit. At my dojo our memberships other than a standard direct debit, normally offers various things that works out to be cheaper in the long run over the direct debit option. 90% of our students are on a Direct Debit which currently sits at $95 per month; courtesy of the location having increased our rent. The 10% that don't do the Direct Debit and are on a contract are those students who train regularly and are normally on the State or National Squad. But those "contracts" can be cancelled at any time with no negative consequence to the Member. We normally give a refund of any time remaining left if they paid in full, unless they are currently in the "free training period" of that membership where they don't receive the refund.

It would be a good idea to cross train, it may in fact benefit your training to undertake kendo.

That is extremely unlucky JR. What is the Medical Prospects like for you over in New Zealand for management or treatment? It sounds incredibly difficult for you to manage and cope physically and emotionally. We are here to support you every step of the way, and we want you to know that you are family and family means everything to us here at karateforums.com If you feel worse then please speak to someone! we love you to pieces JR!!

Good Luck for the tournament! I understand your quandary regarding your back, because you don't want to injure yourself again. Personally I would wait just to allow for recovery and rehabilitation, but at the end of the day everyone is different. You however hit the nail on the head, tournaments force you to adapt as you will fight people that you've never fought before; as such you need to make those adjustments to the way you fight to your advantage. For years I was very anti-competition, because i thought it would take away from what I was learning and would create super bad habits. However I have changed my tune drastically, because i realized by placing myself into difficult situations I would adapt and become better and in turn cope with dealing with the unknown. Being the best teacher you can be, often means popping your bubble and making your comfort zone more than just what your used to.

My dojo has it's lineage through Yamaguchi Sensei (Goju-Kai). We are slightly varied in terms of Kata, we added the taikyoku kata (Taikyoku Jodan, Chudan, Gedan, Kake and Mawashi Ichi) prior to the Gekesai Series. In relation to stances, it is noticeable by viewing their Shiko Dachi. As the Japanese tend to be lower than the Okinawan. However in my eyes Goju-Kai is not watered down, as students train just as hard as those who are from strictly okinawan lineages. I have trained in several schools that teach Goju-Ryu that is only taught from a Okinawan Lineage. And their training was similar to what i regularly do. The only difference in training was either the terminology or minor changes in how to perform techniques. Each dojo irregardless of what they particularly teach, will offer what is useful for their needs. At my dojo even though we do jiyu kumite, we still do kakie and about a dozen or so things that you would only "typically" find at an okinawan dojo.

I agree!! Does anyone know his rank?? I know he's of no particular core style anymore, according to his writings. He's a 4th Dan. I would like to know which style. It's one of the original ones, but it could be either Okinawa or Japanese. Okinawan Karate. I believe he has studied Shito-Ryu as his Base Style.

How much drills would you estimate you guys devote to punches vs kicks? I train ITF/Chang Hon-TaeKwon-Do which was based on Shotokan and Id' say it's roughly 80% kicks in drills (mitts), while training basics (excluding patterns) it's 95% hand techniques. I suspect our grandmasters age (60+) has something to do with it because he does not demonstrate any elaborate kicks, thus has no interest in devoting the basics to it. Which is a shame given that he's a 9th Dan (highest). I am sure he knows a thing or too about kicking... The asisstant instructors are the ones demonstrating kicks in our power training (mitts). We roughly do 70% Hand Techniques vs. 30% Kicking Techniques. This is usually due to the lack of available space that we have for our dojo and numbers of students.

Biomechanics is how you move. Muchimi is how you keep in contact with your opponent, along with releasing techniques with power. So starting off slow then building up and exploding. Refer to: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/the-two-sides-of-muchimi/ Gamaku in essence is about Hip Usage and power generation. Refer to: http://asaikarate.com/what-is-gamaku-%E3%80%80%E3%82%AC%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AF%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E4%BD%95%EF%BC%9F/

Varies school to school and their requirements. I know a lot of schools irrespective of style would love to spend more time on kicking. I know my sensei would love to spend more time on kicking, but other things come up and we have to focus on those.

Welcome to the forum aazaaazaaazaaaza. Hope you enjoy your time here

I'm a Goju Practitioner and we only use the term "Oos/Osu" as a greeting. Never once for anything else, as for us when we have visiting students or instructors we often have to remind them that we only use it for bowing in/out and the word "Hai" (Yes in Japanese) for everthing else.

Personally you would join as a white belt, as IMHO (and mean no disrespect) would be considered rude to ask to be permitted to wear whatever rank you wanted because of your prior training. We have many students come through who have had previous training, but will have recommenced at white belt and when eligible to grade they will get graded to where their skill level is at. Like what JR said, you could train on your own for x number of years, but you may quite easily be very rusty on the technical side of things. But that also depended on whether they have trained in our style of karatedo or not. If they didn't then they can't progress to say black belt.

Where I train is in a Recreation Center, and in our room we don't have our own private area to shower and the like. However the Center is accommodating towards those who don't identify as 'Male' or 'Female' as such have rooms that are more geared towards allowing those who are Transitioning to use the room that is geared towards the room that they identify as. For them it is about how inclusive that they can be, irregardless of what your Sex and Gender (Difference: Sex is what is between your legs and what your Chromosomes say you are. Gender is what YOU identify as irregardless of sex) is. I understand that there are groups of people who are uncomfortable with changing and getting undressed in front of others and then showering, normally to a magnitude of reasons. And for peoples privacy won't give examples as I do not want to single different groups out. The gym (Weights, Cardio etc) I train at has split showers and changing room that has two curtains or doors to maximise privacy for those not wanting to flash their private parts. During Class we don't line students up according to their Sex (Note Above), only by their rank, height or skill level so others can benefit throughout their training. Very Rarely does it work out that all the girls are in the front and boys in the back (OR VICE VERSA), and we don't intend on insulting anyone if that happens. For our students at the outset of them training with us we ask them if they have a preferred name for us to use, in addition when enrolling students we do request that they state their Gender and if they are transitioning to place their new sex instead of their old one. As such this is to ensure that we can help prevent bullying in the dojo and also to give them additional coping mechanisms for when they are at school or at work.

No I haven't heard of it before. It could be a solo school and sattelite schools that hasn't really spread? Maybe Wastelander has heard of it across his research?

Well in our classes we use a combination of English and Japanese. But depends on the skill level and knowledge of the students. We use the english terminology for our white belts but introduce the japanese terms to them after several lessons. In comparison for our 1st Kyu's we use predominantly japanese terms. When we are in our advanced seniors class we only use japanese terms. As it is expected that we know what it is.

You need to keep those with ADD focused and interested in what they are doing. They may get bored really quickly if they don't find it interesting. In a way you will find that those children (and adults) can actually give you somewhat of a good indication whether what you're doing is interesting or not.

Basically what JusticeZero said! BJJ does have many throws that come from Judo, but have removed many of them due to the adjustment made by the Founders of the Art when they suffered from Asthma (from memory) as such couldn't do Judo. Tallgeese will be able to assist

Yeah I have a Seishin Gi and it is really good. I've had it for a couple of years now and is still standing strong. In comparison to Jols and Tans (local brand here where I live) it is awesome. It is thousands times better than the Tokaido Gi i own, that is in relation to weight and material. Wouldn't use my tokaido gi on a hot day or in a tournament. In comparison to my other gi's it stands above the rest, because of the material that it is made of. The main drawback i've found that it can be a little stuffy when it hits 30 Degrees Celcius, unless your dojo has good air conditioning. Or it may just be me being overweight.

Welcome to the forum and hope you have some success coming to some decision. Like Sensei8 said probably go with option 4, that way you can find a club that suits you and what you want out of your training.

Depends, if your training for fitness you can train at a gym to improve your health. It can improve your MA training if you train at a gym right. I train at a gym 3x weekly for weight loss and to improve strength and my aerobic fitness.

What type of Kenpo have you trained in previously? As there seems to be Okinawan, Japanese and American. From my knowledge Kenpo is a lot more fluid whereas Shotokan is more strength and straight to the point.

I'd recommend speaking to your physician and surgeon about it, and also possibly whoever is managing your rehabilitation. Have you already commenced normal levels of exercise that is putting the area under stress? That is to ensure that it is safe for you to commence training, especially since you're a year out from major surgery.

I believe it would have some good benefits because of the movements in both. In particular with Goju-Ryu because of its balance nature towards hard and soft techniques

Congratulations all!