Nidan Melbourne

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!

Sounds interesting, but I have heard of some instructors not allowing free sparring until 3rd Kyu. But that according to them is because they want their students to have mastered the basics and understand the bunkai for kata Personally my dojo we allow Jiyu Kumite from 8th Kyu (Yellow Belt) as we only have one belt prior to this rank though: 9th Kyu (White Belt). Our Partner Drills (Gyakusoku Kumite) are done seperately but not as 1-, 2- or 3- Step Sparring. Our Pre-Arranged Sparring has 7 different types. Gyakusoku Kumite Ich has 3 Sections with on average 6 steps in each. This is the same for Gyakusoku Kumite Ni. Gyakusoku Kumite San has 10 Steps Yonhon Kumite = 4 Steps Gohon = 5 Steps Roppon Kumite = 6 Nanahon = 7

Excellent Work mate! very proud

Thats interesting that a belt didn't come with your Gi. Because majority of the gi's i've bought or have ordered on behalf of people have come with a white belt. To date I've ordered around 40 Gi's for either myself or various people and i'd say a good 35 of them came with a belt. The other 5 came from a supplier that sells belts separately to the uniforms as they have a high turnover of purchases that come from experienced martial artists who already possess their own belt.

Hey all, after seeing this on a group that I'm in on Facebook, i was curious to what you all think that compete in any WKF Tournament or National Federation Sanctioned Tournament that operates under the WKF Rules. What rules would you like changed or added? Would love to see what you think about the rules for Kata and Kumite.

I just have to film my bit then send it through. probably will be easier using the method that you described!

I was never the star pupil or the best student. But I was always making sure that I was working the hardest to improve in technique and knowledge. But I know that doesn't make me the best teacher, what makes me a good teacher is learning how to teach the hardest things but in the simplest way possible.

I have used my MA Training a few times in Self Defense, but strangely every single time it has been on Public Transport. Twice on a Tram and Once on a Bus! On two of those occassions it was with multiple attackers and they clearly didn't think things through! So i'll tell you about the bus incident because that seems to me the most interesting of these attacks. I was on my way out to uni and the bus was still at the Depot in Footscray and was sitting on the front seat near the front door but had a piece of glass between me and it. 3 teens come up to me asking for cigarettes and since i don't smoke and i apologized for not having any due to being a non-smoker. They first started hurling abuse and i was trying to calm the situation before things escalated, but to no avail. The first teen decided to throw a punch but blocked and drew into a triangle choke (don't know how I managed it due to the lack of available space), the second teen chucked a punch and i managed to lock him into a headlock whilst still controlling the 1st teen. and told the third one that I will let them go immediately upon him stepping away and going towards the door. This happened within' 10-15 seconds and at no point did I attempt to fully lock in either of those chokes to make them unconscious, but i only applied minimal pressure to ensure that i had control. But those teens failed to realize that there were police standing outside the bus door speaking to the bus driver casually and they saw and heard absolutely everything. The officers assured me that I wouldn't be charged due to my reasonable attempts to calm things down and to defend myself reasonably with a fair level of force required. When they did a pat down of all 3 teens it turns out that the one I had in a headlock had a flick knife in his jacket pocket that he could have easily pulled at any time. After my interview with the police where i gave my statement, they told me that the three teens were 13, 14 and 16 years old respectively but they were a lot larger due to their physical stature. I thought that they were 17, 18 and 19. I told the police that I didn't want them to be locked up, but would like them to be formally charged but as a punishment that they should do community service for both the council and old peoples homes that could use volunteers for the elderly and to keep them company. I told the police this because I didn't want to ruin their lives completely by putting them at risk of danger on the inside. And that they could be rehabilitated and learn from working and still getting an education whilst they are at it.