Nidan Melbourne

At your dojo does your sensei get you to do sparring drills to get you used to that type of thing. Many instructors often do not help their students with that prior to getting them in kumite. Some of my inexperience karateka are the same where they freeze up when it comes to defence. Maybe you are overthinking it? Getting better at sparring? Easy do more sparring!

Being in Australia i can't really help (sorry!). Have you done a google search of locations? I haven't heard of that style before, can you tell me more about it?

If they don't have beginner classes, how do students start their training? Not trying to be a wise guy here. Beginner classes may not be taught by the head honcho, but without beginners, the art dies. Obviously if we didnt have beginners there would be no art. I know many dojos that operate only 1 class for all grades, so 1 juniors class and 1 seniors class. So it does depend on the teacher. I misread your post. I somehow stupidly thought you said they didn't teach beginners. No idea how I thought that one. Haha all good, it happens to the best of us! So not that stupid.

If they don't have beginner classes, how do students start their training? Not trying to be a wise guy here. Beginner classes may not be taught by the head honcho, but without beginners, the art dies. Obviously if we didnt have beginners there would be no art. I know many dojos that operate only 1 class for all grades, so 1 juniors class and 1 seniors class. So it does depend on the teacher.

Honestly i don't think it is the only source that karate has come from. Because we know Okinawa was a melting pot of all trade from various countries for centuries, so i personally feel like white crane had a strong influence and major origin but there would have been many other MA that could have influenced it.

I think it will depend on the schools you contact, as they may allow lower kyu grades to train. BUT probably best to contact a Shotokan Dojo because you have that background. I am not sure about how strong it's prescence still is in Okinawa (being a Goju-Ryu practitioner myself). Normally I'd recommend you being minimum 1st Kyu, but i think some schools operate "beginner" and "advanced" classes so you could potentially go to the "beginner" class.

Welcome back to the forum Baldor. Have you spoken to your doctor or more specifically gone to a Podiatrist about it? From my knowledge it often depends on what you are doing with your feet and the footware you use. The older members of the forum may have some products that may be useful.

First off welcome to the forum Webcrest. My first day of my training was very nervewrecking because i knew only one person and he wasn't training that day. It was really busy that day, don't even remember what i did for the first 25 minutes. The remaining time i remember being in our secondary room with sensei and one other new student being shown the basics.

I'd personally recommend Tokaido because of the quality that they provide, but that is the same of Shureido. I have a Tokaido Gi and love it, but have never worn a Shureido Gi before so can't really say which to go for. The hard part is finding one that fits you well, since they would (most likely) sell primarily the Japanese Cut over the European Cut in store. I think Kyoto would be the best out of the two locations to buy Gi's from because many Honbu Dojo's operate out of there.

Is that you Justin? Because I just saw your style as Ryukyu Mudokai and that reminded me of your club name. I'm now undertaking a similar one to my old club, albeit with several major differences in how it is formatted and what it includes.

To the bolded section of your post, often clubs don't advertise their training fees although majority of clubs have different types of memberships (may differ in what they offer or otherwise) at different prices. In relation to Inconvenient Class Times, I have found that 90% of classes are held at a time that is normally best for that age bracket. For instance my dojo does the following: Monday 4 - 5 pm Juniors (White + Yellow Belts) 5 - 6 pm Juniors (Orange - Green Belts) 6 - 7 pm Juniors (Purple - Black Belts) 7 - 8 pm Seniors (White - Red Belts) 8 - 9 pm Seniors (Green - Black Belts) As such our youngest students go first and then our oldest later on. Our youngest students are 6 years old and currently our oldest is 65. My old dojo's Hombu operated at a similar timeframe, but also operated a Mighty Mites Class which was for 4 + 5 Year Olds between 3:15 and 3:45 pm. Now why do we start at 4 instead of 3 you ask? It is because schools here in Victoria, Australia finish between 3 and 3:30 pm so parents would have to come pick their child up from school and then have the chance to drop their child off in class. Although i know a few clubs that operate their Juniors Classes anywhere between 5 & 8 pm which is rather late for 6 year olds to commence their training.

Congrats Karate_John for being Member of the Month!

In my eyes ranks are useful for curriculum purposes and to help students identify where they are at. Also to help motivate students to keep going to reach their goals. From my knowledge the only reason ranks were created was for that purpose. Also to help keep things in order when it was introduced to mainland japan. The belt doesn't make the person but the person makes the belt. There are many black belts that I highly respect and others I honestly don't. In regards to tournaments i don't like the ones where you wear your current rank whilst competing. I honestly have a preference for each competitor to either wear a Red or Blue belt in each of their rounds. In regards to young black belts coming from a Karate Perspective, you will find in Japan that majority of families that have children who enroll their child/ren from a young age and often train 5/6 days per week instead of the western culture of 2/3 times per week. This will usually translate to earning their black belt early on. But they wouldn't earn their shodan or nidan until they are much older. In terms of Ego there should be none in Martial Arts, as all should be focused, respectful and humble.

That is unfortunate for him, but competing a lot does give many people overconfidence as is the case for that young man. I have fought against several TKD practitioners in the last couple of years that either compete or don't and have struggled greatly when I got in close and closed the gap. From memory old-school TKD still had its fair share of hand strikes, but not so much these days. Personally I do compete because it helps me get outside of my comfort zone, but I still take it with a grain of salt knowing that in a realistic situation it will be a whole lot worse.

My name is Nidan Melbourne 1. I do not have testicles of steel 2. I don't strike first, strike hard, no mercy 3. I am not like bruce lee

Sounds like you had an amazing day! I love discussing kata with fellow competitors when I'm not on. When you were competiting did you use your own clubs rules or use a specific ruleset that various tournaments use (i.e. WKF, NASKA etc)?

Without having tested you physically (I work in the Health Field similar to a Physiotherapist), it would be difficult to make appropriate recommendations. So all I can really say is to slowly test your flexibility and slowly push past your limits, but this obviously won't happen overnight. When you currently kick how much do you pivot your supporting foot? As this will allow you to open up your hips more and positioning the femoral joint in a position to allow you to kick higher. Also leaning to a certain degree will permit a slightly higher kick, a TKD practitioner will be able to give their reasoning for this.

To the bold type above... You're correct Nidan Melbourne. No matter the rank ALL students have to apply with the Hombu, and the Hombu decides who is and who isn't admitted to any Testing Cycle!! No dojo within the SKKA network can conduct a Testing Cycle without the specific approval of the Hombu. I can't conduct a Testing Cycle in my own dojo unless the Hombu has approved it, even though I'm the Kaicho of the SKKA, and am of a Senior Dan Rank....no way and no how!! SKKA network wide conduct Testing Cycles once every quarter, Hombu included. Also, the Hombu conducts a annual Testing Cycle in June/July for all ranks, especially Godan and up: they MUST test at the Hombu without exception. To the Bolded Information, if you wish to hold your own Testing Cycle would you have to gain approval of your Board of Regents/Directors? Also I'm curious to know how far would people have to travel to the Hombu for that particular Testing Cycle?

Thanks for that Rhys, I've been looking up admin sites like that. How much does it cost on a Monthly/Yearly Basis?

Like Sensei8 said are you offering more than just Karate at your school? Because I have spoken to many parents and they have said to me that if they would enroll their child or even themselves into a club if that club offered multiple things for students to potentially undertake. I know a couple of clubs that are near where I live that teach not only Karate but also teach weapons, BJJ, Muay Thai and Self Defense Classes. They are successful because it gives the consumer options to what they want to learn. For instance I am looking for locations currently that can fit a Dojo and a gym in the one building. Of which would be on the ground floor being 60% Gym & 40% Mat Space, then on the 1st Floor being 60% Mat Space & 40% Gym for Martial Artists. In which I would be having options for people to train in the gym or undertake martial arts training.

I understand your dilemma because it is hard to maintain numbers with no nonsense karate. I personally haven't experienced this with my own club (yet to start mine), but i have worked with clubs who have. At my dojo we hold gradings usually once per term for all Kyu Grades (1st Kyu is ineligible to Kyu Gradings), and all Dan Gradings (including 1st Kyu's attempting for Shodan-Ho) are held once per YEAR. For instance we recently held our Junior Color Belt Grading, we had 30 students attempting for promotion and this is out of 100 Junior Students that train regularly. We have never had our entire Junior student body eligible for promotion at the one time. But for many students they will usually grade once per year, or for the regulars (Train every day that we have classes) twice per year. With that in mind we have in-belt testing which is to test their knowledge across 5 areas of training before they can even consider going for grading. This is to help us as instructors see where they are at in their training but also for the student to see where they are at. We test every 6 lessons, but just doing the techniques is not enough you have to put the effort and attitude into what your doing. The students get tested on: - Basics - Combinations - Kata - Pre-Arranged Sparring - Sparring There is nothing wrong with holding gradings every quarter, but should only be available to those who are eligible. From memory Sensei8 does this with Shindokan where students have to apply to grade, but will only be approved to attend by Senior Management (correct me if i'm wrong). Which in my eyes makes students work harder to reach that level where they would be even considered to grade by their instructor and management.

When i first started teaching, it was just to help fill the time and also to help my sensei out when instructors left. Although when I took some time off training when I was completing my VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education, Years 11 & 12), I helped teach at my sensei's new dojo because I wanted to repay him for all the years he taught me and helped me reach Shodan-Ho. But now since I restarted training (2011/2012ish), i realised that I should be teaching not only for the kids but also for myself. Because I found when I realised that I should be teaching for myself and letting the kids in a way teach me that my own Karate would improve.

Yeah, sorry about that. Lol! It's hard to take part in the live stream and stay on top of the interviews! Patrick just makes it look easy. Haha thats all good, made it more entertaining to be honest! besides it can be hard being co-presenters so I get it.

I'm assuming by your Username that your a Godan (5th Dan)?

I don't think I know any school that doesn't have an associated rank for each kata. By what I mean is that each rank has a required kata but may be taught prior to that rank to allow for further practice.