Nidan Melbourne

My Club for Black Belts use either Tokaido or Adidas. I have an Adidas Black Belt and have had it since I earnt my BB and is great quality and has lasted this long without wearing out.

Congrats

At my Dojo, we don't call all our instructors Sensei unless they are of 3rd Dan or above. If they are below that we only call them Sempai. As my dojo only has 1 Yondan (My Sensei), 4 Nidan (me included), 6 Shodan, 16+/- Shodan-Ho. Even if I visited other Dojo's to teach or train, I would insist on being called Sempai due to the fact that I haven't been given the honour of being bestowed the title of Sensei. Although at my Dojo when we have multiple instructors we do generally split into multiple groups depending on available space and experience of said instructors.

Personally i think it depends on your school and how your timetable is organised. My club we have different classes that require you to be of a certain rank. And you have to attend that class, as each class focuses on curriculum required.

Yes i think about MA alot outside of class and even talk about it. Even though it drives my fiancee crazy.

If i was over in the US i would attend but unfortunately won't be able to attend

Personally I'm not a fan of Saifa/Saiha, maybe because I've done it god knows how many times and also the sheer number of variations that I've been shown makes it kinda boring tbh! But there are many techniques in it that I see as being useful in a Self-Defence Situation. What Club/Association are you with? I ask because I personally find it interesting that an association will not allow you to perform any kata outside of your current rank. It might just be me where I am so used to the WKF Format where you can (Now they have removed the Shitei Kata) perform any kata you wish

To me Yoga can be beneficial to karateka not just physically but also spiritually. As such I feel like you will grow more as such

Well with kata you will never get the correct way of doing a particular kata. Look at Bassai Dai and the number of variations there are across all the styles. The people that created those styles and incorporated that one kata adjusted accordingly by what they were taught and the practicality of what the techniques they wanted in it. From your post IMHO you make contradictory comments by saying that there is an absolute correct way of doing kata. But then you go on to say that you do it the way that feels right and good for you at home. So by your original logic you would be doing it wrong. Flexibility as a karateka for kata it often boils down to knowing the variations but adjusting to the needs and requirements for you and everyone you teach and train with. With instructors within clubs and organisations will always want particular things that may be slightly different to what the CI wants. For instance my sensei for the kata Seisan you do predominatly sanchin dachi and shikodachi, whilst his 2IC teaches the same kata with more tsuri ashi dachi (drag foot stance) over sanchin dachi I was being a little flippant really, I meant that as I'm studying Wado the right way to do it would be the way Hironori Otsuka intended it to be done! Although in his book in places he suggests to play around with parts of kata.I know in books the old masters have suggested that every kata will be done slightly differently. But you also have to admit that the way that Otsuka Sensei would do kata works for him, but not necessarily for everyone else. Because kata is a very deep thing, as such you can never be shallow when it comes to studying it and the same goes for karate as a whole. Wastelander for example kindly has shown us a number of variations of Naihanchi that has been taught is quite high. But then again IMHO doing a kata the way you were taught and what works for you physically should be taking precedence. Obviously there are schools that have butchered kata to the point that you can't recognise what should be a recognisable kata. I have seen the Goju-Ryu Kata Seipai absolutely butchered when it should be different. I have previously read that the kata are meant to be a framework for you to interpret and the modify to each persons physical needs, as what Miyagi Sensei had done with his students. For example look at how Gogen Yamaguchi and Morio Higoanna perform the same kata, but they both have some minor differences but are essentially the same. Yamaguchi Sensei learnt from Miyagi-Sensei, but Higoanna Sensei enrolled at the latters school a year after his passing. So at the end of the day there is no 'right' way of performing kata, if that was the case then there would be a lot of arguments saying that their way was the correct way. Just look at Suparempei it appears in both Goju-Ryu and Shito-Ryu, by your logic what is the correct version?

Well with kata you will never get the correct way of doing a particular kata. Look at Bassai Dai and the number of variations there are across all the styles. The people that created those styles and incorporated that one kata adjusted accordingly by what they were taught and the practicality of what the techniques they wanted in it. From your post IMHO you make contradictory comments by saying that there is an absolute correct way of doing kata. But then you go on to say that you do it the way that feels right and good for you at home. So by your original logic you would be doing it wrong. Flexibility as a karateka for kata it often boils down to knowing the variations but adjusting to the needs and requirements for you and everyone you teach and train with. With instructors within clubs and organisations will always want particular things that may be slightly different to what the CI wants. For instance my sensei for the kata Seisan you do predominatly sanchin dachi and shikodachi, whilst his 2IC teaches the same kata with more tsuri ashi dachi (drag foot stance) over sanchin dachi

Well i have 3 currently; Bassai Dai (Shito-Ryu Version), Anan and Paiku. All are fun and interesting to see what you can suck out of the kata for practical uses.

Usually due to poor health is why they stop or because of extenuating circumstances force the closure. I know of 1 goju-ryu club folded because of a lack of students, because they were averaging only 4 people in each class which was not enough to cover the costs of running a club. For me i'd quit if i physically could not demonstrate or even stand for long enough time to teach and correct. I'd hate not being able to teach because i have a strong love and respect for all my students that i teach.

Weight Lifting can be safe and effective for Karate and for Martial Arts in General. You wouldn't have many injuries if you perform exercises (Bodyweight, Loaded Weights or Cardio) correctly and if you load appropriately. As injuries generally occur because people do something silly and incorrectly do something. Now you ask a tough question, because generally HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is best for training and weight management. Doing Push-Ups correctly wouldn't cause much of an issue to joints UNLESS you have weight + a few health issues. In Relation to mobility you can do most exercises that are movement based that you would use in everyday life. So obviously you have to take whatever people say here with a grain of salt because they will talk from personal experience about what works best for them.

Good work Scohen0300. I think what happened with your injury is that you were pushing yourself too low and your body was not coping with the depth therefore your injury. Going Parallel to your knees is where I personally believe you should go with squats and not getting your butt to the ground. I personally believe this to be far safer than what you would have been shown how to do it in the crossfit box. Personally I squat to the same height as my knees and no lower.

Yes I would but I would be distracted because I would miss my friends and family too much. Training at altitude is amazing as there is less oxygen in the air. Therefore you are adapting your body to require less oxygen to function at high intensity whilst closer to sea level. There has been multiple studies on this matter of high altitude training (aka training in the mountains). But on the other hand I find training in isolation harder because you will be unable to focus on technique whilst in a confined space having to defend yourself. But I understand totally why some of the old masters undertook this type of training to better themselves spiritually and psychologically.

I like the comments in places like YouTube about competitors wearing red and blue belts. Comments like "that guy is really good, why is he only a blue belt?" and "she's not that good, she's only a red belt." It is funny seeing those comments on tournaments where competitors wear a red or blue belt. I'm pretty sure it is usually on because they don't compete in WKF Sanctioned Tournaments (Therefore allowing National Federations to have their own tournaments). I spoke to a man and woman the other day who tried arguing that you could only be a Red or Blue Belt in your style to compete and not be any other rank. But when I laid the facts down that all national competitors are of Black Belt Ranking, and extremely rarely a Kyu Grade. Considering majority of the competitors out of my dojo are Black Belts it says something

Why were they so short? I'm curious because every BB Grading I've ever seen or heard of has always lasted in excess of 3/4 hours to multiple days.

As everyone said, I see them as rather similar but also they are at the same time rather different. For me IMHO Karate has more of a balance in relation to the 3 K's, and balanced in the way that we use kicks and hand strikes quite evenly. Whilst I see TKD more focused on Kicks and not so much on hand techniques. Their Philisophical approaches are very similar in their attitudes and behaviours. I have seen some 'Traditional' TKD Clubs that has not been influenced by Sport TKD at all which looks so different to how you see it in the Olympics or in majority of clubs these days.

As JR 137 said it will vary person to person. Personally I'd recommend that you wait 2-3 weeks prior to starting back but purely depends on what you can do comfortably and safely Progress slowly everyday to ensure that you feel comfortable with more and more exercise. I Understand that your getting bored because you're not able to physically get on the mats to train, but you have to put your physical health first before grading. Because none of us wants to give you the wrong advice like what your doctor even said.

For me I feel like for all black belt gradings should on average last between 4 and 9 hours dependent on the number of candidates. For instance these were the duration of my gradings for all my BB Gradings: 1st Kyu - Shodan-Ho: 5 Hours Shodan-Ho - Shodan: 7 Hours Shodan - Nidan: 5.5 Hours Each of these gradings we had between 10-15 people attempting a Dan Grading with a small handful attempting a Kyu Grading. The reason our duration varies other than the number of candidates is due to the difficulty required on the more advanced students along with the amount of requirements for each grade. For me attempting my 2nd Dan I had to do the following from Kata onwards: Every kata up to Seisan + 2 Extra (Seipai + Shisochin for me), Gekesai + Saifa + Seeiunchin Bunkai, 25 Sanseru Kyogi, 10 Rounds Kumite + 1 Round of 2 on 1.

For my current dojo (Goju-Ryu) we have one that is like a 5 minute walk from us that is also a Goju-Ryu school. The "rival" club is an IGK (International Goju-Ryu Karate) Dojo and mine is not affiliated with them. My old club used to be affiliated with the IGK.

Have you just started training in Kyokushin training? I know training hard can have a negative side effect on people with anxiety. IMHO I believe that you may just want to travel for a little longer prior to competing in that style. Because I feel like that may add to your anxiety levels, until you get more comfortable with it

Welcome Back! We missed you

That was a disrespectful move of that competitor! I get that it was in the heat of the moment that it occurred, but still. Even in the WKF Rules, the competitors would never do such a move. As 98% of all WKF will only punch to a downed opponent and never kick.

Well for us it isn't us going you can bring your own business here and advertise etc. We are going to have it under our name therefore we can have a say of timing and the instructors that teach it are held accountable also. The Instructors would be paid for their time and receive a fair share of fees paid by students, but we control times and costs of memberships etc. It would work for us as we would be operating multiple martial arts and a fitness club at the same site (multiple levels), so if they were say a Personal Trainer or Higher they would be able to be employed by us so they wouldn't have to travel too far to go teach.