Nidan Melbourne

Personally I agree with what you said Spartacus because everyone at some point or another will experience self-doubt about their own skills and/or why they should continue training and/or their instructors expectations. In relation to their skills, everyone will experience this hurdle because things are just not working for them or that what they are doing in class may not help (i.e. the training exercises that they do). It is also closely followed by the doubt whether they should continue training, because if they are losing interest then the risk is that they are going to stop training. And finally Instructors Expectations, they obviously vary from instructor to instructor but at the end of the day all they want you to do is do your best and train to the best of your abilities. Even if that day is the best day or your worst day.

Amazing work Patrick and team. We wouldn't have connected this well without all your help!

Patrick - i can be on between 6:45 - 7 am (AEST)

That is what I love about Human Physiology is that it can decide to some weird but amazing things, all whilst being a pain in the butt. It sucks when it comes to you potentially breaking your foot but in really it just swells like crazy. Although it has happened to me in the past (what happened to you), and has taken ages to heal.

Depending on the Competition it will vary for chest protection. From memory for any karate competition that uses the WKF Rules requires females to have a breastplate in addition to the chest protector (Covers torso). Usually I recommend adidas for chest protectors and the same for the breast plates. As majority of the Karate related equipment they sell are all WKF Approved.

I love this video because it was sweet and extremely patient of the instructor, whilst getting the kid excited and motivated to break the wood.

I personally believe that TKD has gotten such a bad rap because it has become in a way very 'sporty'. Which does sadden me because it is an amazing Martial Art to watch but in a way I have seen that it is these days 'lacking' because most schools have completely ignored the arms as well. I cannot judge another style of Karate nor another Martial Art until I have studied it myself. I have studied a little bit of BJJ but cannot judge it because i haven't fully submerged myself into the art and learnt as i could due to my current financial situation. But what from I have learnt from it is that it is effective on the ground but also standing up to apply locks, chokes and holds. Even though I stated above that TKD has become very 'Sporty' i DO still believe that the sport side of the martial art does have strong ties to its history. But also it takes tremendous amounts of flexibility, strength, power and speed to execute such techniques. So at the end of the day every single martial art has its merits, strengths and weaknesses within' it. Also it comes down to the individual schools that teach Martial Arts to teach the best that they can and not to restrict students to one slice of the Martial Arts Cake.

You know i'm so in

This is an important point. Whether you have a minimum number of lessons or not, it is only fair for the students to have this criteria properly laid out in an accessible place so that both students (parents) and instructors are on the same page. I would also say that if you are going to stipulate a minimum attendance, that you also make a point of recording this properly in the form of sign-in sheets or a register of some sort and not rely solely on memory. Good point. We have a sign in sheet; on it we write our name and the number of classes attended since last promotion. I can never remember, so I always flip to my last class and add 1 to it. I think a computer spreadsheet would probably be a neater and easier way. Our honbu dojo has several hundred students. They reportedly have key tags they scan on their way in. We use physical attendance cards that each individual student has indicating the appropriate rank (the color of the card matches rank). That way they can see also how many lessons that they're on. I like how your Hombu Dojo uses Key Tags for students to use, but IMHO feel like it can be annoying because you would have to check yourself as an instructor if any tests are required for that class. But also can see the advantage of it because you wouldn't have to sign off on any cards. But the big fault I see to it is that if there is a technical issue with power or the machines that they use then students can't "sign in" through the key tags. Although it is a better method than my old club because when I left they were bringing in a similar method to your hombu BUT the student physically had to find their name on a list on the computer itself.

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle? Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll? Poorly? No! Every student has had this explained to them quite clearly!! Therefore, there are no misconceptions and/or misunderstandings about that at all. Thankyou for the clarification. That is good there are no poor reactions

Well that is still really good anyway. At least the next time your sensei asks you to teach you'll be ready

Get a medical from your Doctor because majority of Tournaments irregardless of style/martial art require a person over 40 to have medical approval

I know here in Australia, nearly all insurers have plans for Martial Arts Schools that request the level of contact (Chance of Injury) that will occur during class. As such a Kyokushin School would be a Full Contact School therefore a higher premium, whilst say a Taichi school would be non-contact. As far as I'm aware my sensei has listed as semi full contact. As when he first opened his school he didn't have many adult students and couldn't afford the higher costs of insurance, also the location we rent from have in a way a say about full contact vs. semi full contact. Apparently the insurance we have requires them to be notified if we ever do full contact sparring (i.e. what Kyokushin does) well in advance, and to have first aiders on hand. Personally of Which i do not mind

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle? Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll?

Practicing with a Chinese Broadsword can have its benefits but since I have little to no exposure or experience with it I can't give you honest feedback on it. But when you look at it realistically you wouldn't have it with you everywhere you go. Arnis/Eskrima Sticks can have more benefits in my eyes because of the different grips and strength to wield it (in say comparison to your Chinese Broadsword). Both are different sizes and used for different purposes, although Arnis Sticks were a change from the Machetes that the Philipinos used to hack their way through the forests (and used them as a weapon). So in a way they are very similar if you look at it from a certain point of view.

Personally I favor Arnis Sticks because of their functionality and ability to use anything that you find on the ground for a self defense situation. I like most of the kobudo weapons that you commonly use, but for me not many schools teach it due to various laws here in Australia or because of the relevance it may have in todays society where those weapons aren't commonplace. It doesn't mean that I don't like them, but for me to learn weapons they should be teaching the old but also with the new.

First of welcome to the forums and we are happy to have you. My dojo you have an attendance card that tracks your lessons, as such each students tests every 6 lessons unless they had a grading error where they test for that area after 12 instead of 6. We say you must attend a minimum of 30 lessons and have passed all in-rank tests (5 tests per kyu grade). 5 tests = every 6 lessons = 30 lessons As we don't see the point in saying you must attend every class to be eligible to test. because that would interfere with students lives outside of class. If you would like I can email you an example of what I mean ? if so just pm me your email address

usually mine involve several cones and you have to be able to maneuver whilst dealing with multiple attackers where you perform various combos or counters in relation to those attackers.

Sorry for such a slow response Ashworth. But I'd recommend you get into contact with the British Karate Federation to find out about tournaments. Which would run Karate Only Tournaments. I believe ISKA/NASKA operate in England, which operate as an All-Style Tournament that welcomes any Martial Art into the mix.

How did things go in the end? My dojo realistically have females run all the classes as the lead due to having a lack of Dan Graded Females and also none of them teach regularly. Not because we don't want them teaching, we want them taking charge and showing the female students that they can do more than just punch and kick

I have always found when instructors insist on you saying Oss/Osu when they address you to be quite annoying. Because you might hear oss/osu hundreds of times throughout a 60 minute class. Although would be the norm for certain schools where everyone is used to it.

She can probably help you to a small extent, but can also be detrimental because she could be helping you the wrong way. What I mean is that she might help you with the technique but not correct you in the way that an active student/instructor can. Since you have a poor financial situation atm, you should speak to the Chief Instructor to see if there is something that they can do for you. Because I know that many schools will charge a small fee or nothing at all because they want to help you learn. I have trained several people free of charge because they are unable to pay a monthly fee or pay for lessons due to unemployment or they are so tight on a budget every week.

Personally I'd recommend Goju-Ryu if you haven't already chosen to cross-train. Partially because of a bias due to I train in it, but also i feel like it would work wonderfully with Aikido. Although I don't know much about Shorin-Ryu, Wastelander and a few others could provide way more information on it than I can.

As ashworth said mix things up. As a team you should gel quite nicely but obviously doesn't happen all the time. Team bonding exercises are important to undertake, even if they all have been training together in this environment for some time. Since I don't know all the details i can't give the greatest advice. But from the ages that you indicated (11-17 years) that can be part of the issue because the older girls won't want to be socialising with the younger ones because they are 'immature' or 'annoying'. Are you able to run a training camp for 2-3 days? Because i have found they work extremely well especially every 5-6 weeks, but would have to be in addition to your normal training sessions every couple of weeks. As my club is in the beginning process of undertaking such a program with our competitors (of which i am one), but our competition group is between 8 and 35 years old. So our requirements in terms of kata and kumite are slightly different, as our juniors have to wear certain equipment whilst our seniors only have to wear a chest protector (for kumite). Please note that here in Australia the dominant tournaments are all WKF (World Karate Federation) Sanctioned Tournaments through the Australian Karate Federation. Although we have the ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) it is relatively small statewide.

Welcome to the Forum and most importantly welcome to the family!