Nidan Melbourne

To student 'A': Shut up and train!! To student 'B': Shut up and train!! Student 'A'...just who promoted that student to a position that he/she doesn't possess?? Student 'B'...I will not force a student to test! Test...don't test...it's all good to me!! And when student 'B' is ready, I'll be here...whether it's sooner or later!! For student A, my answer is similar. They don't dictate when they test. For student B, it depends on their "why" & their rank. If they are holding back to have a chance to win tournaments, we'd be having a chat about ethics. If they just don't want to, it depends on their present rank & for how long they are there. If someone is 4th Dan. Runs their own school under me. But hasn't tested for 20 years, we'd be having a chat because at that point, that student is affecting his/her student's ability to promote, as well. Just an example. If using your example of a 4th Dan haven't graded for 20 years, why would they have not gone and attempted a grading in that time? I know many 4th and 5th Dans that haven't graded for that length of time because they are content at that rank and have no desire to be promoted to a much higher grade. What if that 4th Dan who hasn't graded has continually trained under their instructor and other instructors during that time, has the knowledge and expertise of say an 8th Dan but just hasn't been given that rank and the ranks in between? and he has graded students to 4th dan. Because IMHO rank is just a piece of clothing that keeps your pants up. And at the end of the day students acknowledge that knowledge is the main thing.

100 Students I feel like is a good round number as a minimum to keep things running. On a Monday and Wednesday my club operates 5 classes on each of those days (10 Classes) so for my sensei he says that for all the expenses he has to operate the club he needs 20 students for each of the juniors classes and the main seniors class, but usually 10 for the advanced seniors class. We operate 16 Classes per Week (5 Mondays, 5 Wednesdays, 4 Fridays and 2 Saturdays). All of our Juniors classes normally fill between 15 - 35 kids, our main Seniors (Adults + Teens) have usually 17 - 25 Students. Our Advanced Seniors usually are between 3 - 6 students but for my sensei it doesn't matter how many students he has as long as he can teach and have a space to teach.

I am coming from an Exercise Science point of view which if you place it on a Tree of all Exercise Based Fields is way above Personal Training and just about Physiotherapy due to our training having more exercise prescription to it than immediate rehabilitation. Resistance Training is highly beneficial for multiple areas of health, not just building muscle. But I do understand where you are coming from, as there would be exercises that come from Chi Gung that can benefit people that Resistance Training may not provide. Although you would have to understand that anyone that provides exercise prescription can only approach from a scientific approach to it. Also we can only provide exercises that are safe for people to undertake without risk of injury when their training on their own. Especially if their clients are inexperienced in Training for Health, or also inexperienced in Martial Arts. I am young (24 Years Old), but specialize in Older Adults but would not train my clients outside unless it was specifically for activities that they enjoy or for management of their everyday health to gain an understanding of what needs to be improved on. But I also work with people my age and younger because of sport and lifestyle management, but they only make up 30% of all my clients. For example one of my clients is retired and loves playing tennis and doing various activities, so why would I keep them inside doing exercises that are specific to what they want? Personal Trainers utilise outdoor spaces year round because people do things outdoors year round, especially older adults. Also it happens to be a cost effective manner for them as they don't have to pay for the site. Take into account they are not trained to deal with that population, as they have learnt to deal with only people of their age due to those attending those courses. Personally I haven't tried Chi Gung yet due to my busy schedule for work, university and my own personal training also due to the lack of available schools that teach it and is geographically viable for me. As I am out in Footscray 80% of the time (those who live in Melbourne Victoria understand where it is), otherwise in the Melbourne CBD, Richmond or Balwyn the rest of the time. The main thing is that people go to Personal Trainers, Physios, Exercise Scientists or other Exercise Professionals due to them wanting to manage one thing or another. Often for them that it is usually to manage their weight or to manage any disability that they may have. I have personal relationships with Exercise Physiologists that have been trained in various Martial Arts and utilise it in their practice with clients. Also we have to take into account what clients want, many don't want spiritual guidance or to do anything that doesn't affect their health if they can't physically see it. Trainers can provide recommendations for activities that can supplement their training, and Chi Gung can fall into this category. Many of my own clients are extremely religious and will not undertake any activity that is remotely used by other religions, or is heavily influenced by it EVEN if it is not influenced by any religion IMHO on a cold day, you should still exercise but instead of just drinking hot tea you still can exercise just indoors. Older Adults have the obvious increased risk of injury and need to be careful due to the risk their immune system could be easily compromised. People who are Personal Trainers often move on into other fields or have upgraded their knowledge through attending university courses by attaining their Bachelors Degree and the subsequently attaining Post-Graduate Degrees (honours, masters and PHD). That is why you won't often find older people that are practicing personal trainers, and more often than not if you are older and a PT people will see you as having outdated knowledge or training methods and applying incorrect training concepts. Yes it has it many advantages that other Martial Artists could use, but it boils down to their knowledge and access to it then also comes down to their needs and wants to gain any real benefit out of it. This is also for those who don't undertake any form of Martial Art, but for older people Resistance Training is the major training point along with Cardiovascular Training due to the impact that it has on joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons along with various other uses that it has. But it can be mainly bodyweight exercises that won't cause excessive stress through the body.

Well I've had two "injuries" from training over the years, excluding miscellaneous strains and sprains. 1. Dislocated a toe from my own sheer stupidity (Sorry Patrick!) where I was too close to the person next to me and i somehow managed to snag my toe on his Gi Pants and dislocated it! and that was about 12 years ago. 2. Hyperextended my Right Knee, OMG did that hurt! It was the night that I was awarded my Shodan. It occured from me running on the mats, but i extended my leg out a bit too far and it happened. I was out for 2-3 Weeks getting rehab on it, caused me to be unable to do a lot of things for a good 3-4 months because of the lack of movement. And I learnt to be more careful when running!!! hahaha

Thats still good though considering things change over that time frame.

Out of sheer curiosity, how many people that you actively train with currently were there on the same day or at approximately the same time (Started the same week) as you OR within' a month of you? Personally I have 1 person who started 1 month after me who I still actively train with. Whilst everyone else has dropped off over time. I loved training with those people that have stopped, admittedly I saw many of them as family.

Could we email the video to you?

Taikyoku kata were created by Gichin Funakoshi. I'm interested in Gekisai Dai San. Any video of it? Kyokushin and offshoots do Gekisai Sho. It's reportedly a Miyagi kata, but I highly doubt it is. Primary reason being I haven't heard of anyone doing Gekisai Sho outside of Kyokushin and offshoots. I've never heard of Gekisai Dai San until now. It may possibly be what we call Gekisai Sho. This is the variant of Gekesai Dai San my Dojo does: although our timing is rather different

That is a different variation, our variant goes forwards and backwards but doesn't turn left or right like Gekisai Ich or Ni

We get a lot of students who are like that where they have an anxiety towards testing. Normally it is because there is stress towards it and that they are anxious that they may fail and that they will see themselves as failures. It happens all the time to some of my students.

Politics and Running a Body of Schools can be a massive headache. I know my sensei who runs his own club, and is only affiliated with Karate Victoria (State Body), Australian Karate Federation [AKF] (National Body) and the World Karate Federation [WKF] through the AKF. They don't really affect how my sensei runs the club, they will usually go you need to fulfill these requirements or need to do a, b or c and they will be happy. But this is a rare occassion that they may do that or if even ever. My Sensei has his own website that has videos of majority of the kata that we have for our school, and the same for the facebook page we have where videos are usually of what he thinks is appropriate or people think that may be beneficial for others. For Videos my logic is to agree to show what is for the curriculum and that is it or also do videos every now and again showing valuable information or lessons like what Wastelander does.

Taikyoku kata were created by Gichin Funakoshi. I'm interested in Gekisai Dai San. Any video of it? Kyokushin and offshoots do Gekisai Sho. It's reportedly a Miyagi kata, but I highly doubt it is. Primary reason being I haven't heard of anyone doing Gekisai Sho outside of Kyokushin and offshoots. I've never heard of Gekisai Dai San until now. It may possibly be what we call Gekisai Sho. You are correct that Funakoshi Sensei Created it to aid with Heian/Pinan Kata, but from memory and re-looked it up Yamaguchi Sensei and Miyagi Sensei took that concept and created the 5 Taikyoku I listed. I will try and get a video recorded of it when I can and if I can remember the full thing. Otherwise I'll see if my Sensei can perform it whilst I film it, then will upload it to youtube and will put the link in. What other Goju-Ryu Katas have you heard or seen? I recently saw two Goju-Ryu Schools doing Empi-Ha and Gekiha which I believe were creations by Sensei Peter Urban

I'm interested to know what you have for your school. What is the full list of kata you have for your school. Mine is as such: Curriculum: Taikyoku Jodan Taikyou Chudan Taikyoku Gedan Taikyoku Kake Uke Ich Taikyoku Mawashi Ich Gekesai Dai Ich Gekesai Dai Ni Sanchin Tensho Saifa Seeiunchin Sanseru Seisan Shisochin Seipai Kururunfa Suparempei Bonus: Gekesai Dai San. Not a required kata for any grade. For the Goju-Ryu people what extras do you have or not? For those who are curious or don't know, Goju-Ryu have 12 core kata which in my list above is Gekesai - Suparempei. The Taikyoku Kata were created by Miyagi Sensei to assist younger students due to the complexities of the more advanced kata. But not part of the core

For me you should breath in through nose and out through your mouth. This is from a combination of my University Training as an Exercise Scientist and my Karate Training. This method is to prevent hyperventilation and an increase in blood pressure during techniques. Holding your Breath during movements is not usually recommended due to the strain that it can place on your heart. This is actually called the valsava manoeuvre.

1) How did you first become interested in martial arts? At first wasn't overly interested until my mum enrolled me into club. But i FIRST got interested when I first watched the Karate Kid Movies 2) What discipline did you decide to practice? Goju-Ryu Karate 3) Why did you choose that specific discipline over the other disciplines? I didn't really have a choice (see answer 1), but for me i realised that it would be better on my joints and suits my ideology on life. 4) What is your skill level within your martial arts discipline? Currently a Nidan (2nd Dan) and a White Belt in BJJ 5) What other things do you like to do? (When you're not in the gym/dojo, what else do you like to do with your time? This can be physical or nonphysical pass times) I go to the Gym to work out, go to the movies, do photography, and see friends and family, oh and also spend quality time with my fiancee 6) What are the first 3 martial arts related brands that come to your mind. (FIRST, not BEST). Seishin, Arawaza, Adidads 7) How do you decide what martial arts gear/equipment to get? (How do you select one type or brand over another?) Usually quality and the price of the equipment. Usually will only buy what I can use in the Dojo and for Tournaments (AKF or WKF Standard) Roughly how often to you buy new martial arts equipment? Haven't had to buy new equipment in about 2 years, so every 3-4 years i will get new equipment 9) Where do you get your equipment from? Is there a reason for this? Well kumite equipment I go through my sensei as he bulk buys the equipment then onward sells them to students. Gi's I either go through Sensei if I want the clubs embroiddery or will go through Seishin, Arawaza or outlets that sell them

The cheapest I own is a AUD$35 Gi that is from JOLS but doesn't make a nice crisp noise and that is a White Gi. My two other gi's are both white; 1 is a Tokaido and the other is a Seishin. But both of those make crisp noises but both are very expensive but worth it

In Karate you can be fulfilled in Mind, Body and Spirit. It purely depends on your willingness to let into your heart, soul and mind. Spiritually can take many forms, not like in the west where it seems like it is purely only in Religious Views (i.e. Christianity). For me Spirituality it can be seen as awareness of being a small piece in a larger bit of work, but the openness and interconnectedness with everything from a connection to people to the smallest ant.

I have worked in several Gyms + health clubs along with having a good relationship with many Exercise Scientists, Exercise Physiologists, Physiotherapists, Personal Trainers etc and the only ones that know of it are culturally aware but haven't practiced it themselves or they have done it when they lived in China. Having a Martial Arts Background I often give advice; even at the rudimentary level of what certain Martial Arts are like. Yoga is a very Indian concept whilst Chi Kung (Chi Gong or whatever spelling you know of) is very Chinese. IMHO People are more drawn to Yoga because of the Meditative and Relaxing Qualities that it offers, and people will promote something that they feel is of benefit and less "scary" in their eyes. As such you can't expect people to be informed of it when they haven't experienced it themselves or have an interest in learning about such topics. Even if they were somewhat informed about it they would only know of the Hard Portion of it due to having seen it live when the Shoalin Monks have come to town or have seen it on Youtube or TV. For example here in Melbourne (Victoria Australia) there are approximately 20 Schools that teach Chi Kung compared to the hundreds of locations that teach Yoga. Also IMHO you can't say that Chi Kung is more interconnected with Martial Arts, whilst Yoga isn't. The way I see it is that for Yoga yes it is about poses, but it also has concepts that can slot into Martial Arts relatively well (dependent on the Martial Art in itself) like the posturing, moving gracefully whilst maintaining balance. This interconnects with Martial Arts as you need posturing and balance to move even when you could be placed in a compromising position. Whilst Chi Kung yes can be used more proficiently than Yoga. So in other words for me Yoga can be used for a supplementary viewpoint whilst Chi Kung can be used more Practically.

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