Nidan Melbourne

In every style we have Bunkai and begin teaching it at different points in time. And Kyogi Kumite is done in limited schools, but is simply your own interpretation on the kata. Bunkai is the club or association requirement which is set in stone. Kyogi is what you come up with and is different from person to person. Now what i am asking is what bunkai do you teach and at what rank do you start teaching it? And the same goes for Kyogi Kumite if your school does this. For instance for my sandan promotion i have to be able to do the following bunkai and kyogi: - Gekesai Bunkai - Saifa Bunkai - Seeiunchin Bunkai - Sanseru Bunkai - 25 Seisan Kyogi

The hard thing is there is no one definitive way to do it as each amputee is different. Probably work with them to develop modifications appropriate to them

Personally i haven't seen any self defence programs for those with mobility issues. but would be interested in seeing it though

That is an excellent idea, the use of a cane is an excellent idea and perfectly legal since it is a mobility aid.

To me it is respectful to shake hands after each round and congratulating the other person. If you won you just be humble and say good job. If you lost you say congratulations and both move on. One person i went head to head with over the last couple of years, he always offered advice afterwards

I read somewhere that Mas Oyama used red as one of kyu grades in Kyokushin, but then eliminated it out of respect for high ranking yudansha who wore it in other systems. I remember seeing one "traditional Japanese karate" school at a tournament that used red as a kyu grade. We were sitting in the bleachers when a group of about ten 8-12 year olds walked into the gym wearing them. My Sensei at the time quietly said to us "look at all the little grandmasters." I asked one of my classmates' little brother how he felt knowing there were 10th dans in his division. We had a good laugh about it. At my old club and current club we have Red Belts as a Kyu Grade, I am not sure why and how this transpired. My old Chief Instructor from my old club trained underneath Tino Ceberano who was a Goju-Kai Practitioner, sent to Australia by request of Gogen Yamaguchi-Sensei. So i feel like this is where it may have come from and popped up in my clubs over the years

I agree with what you said. Because every school is different for requirements and how long it takes to earn your Black Belt (Many grade from 1st Kyu straight to Shodan whilst many do 1st Kyu to Shodan-Ho). At my old school they said you could earn your Shodan-Ho in three years, but that meant in reality training 5-6 days per week and not missing any classes and not failing any in-class tests etc. For me it took around 7 years to earn my Black Belt, this was due to training 2-3 days per/week often 5 day per week. But also due to having school camps, injuries/surgeries and school sport to contend with. But for all dan grades it meant you had to spend that grade you're attempting for + 6 months. So for a Shodan-Ho to be eligible to grade for Shodan meant you had to spend 18+ months at that rank, also be training actively for that time frame. For Nidan it is 2 1/2 years so on and so forth. For me this year is my 15th Year of training (wow!) and am content where i am at with my training, but will always push forward to become not only a better martial artist but a better person. I know many instructors who stopped grading after attaining either Yondan or Godan because they're happy with that and don't feel like they would gain anything out of grading again. But that doesn't stop them from promoting students to Nidan or Sandan, because these instructors have the experience and knowledge of say a Nanadan or Hachidan. IMHO I feel like when people say you can't grade someone to this rank purely because of you not being 2 grades higher is a touch silly! with an explanation of course: Say a person is a Nidan who has been at that rank for 30 years, continually working on the entire curriculum taught to them and they know the applications and able to perform better than say a Godan in the same club. Why would you stop them from grading a student to Shodan or Nidan themselves. I know when I reach my Godan, i'll be content and may or may not want to grade again. But I will never stop a student from attempting their sandan or yondan grading. I know there would be critics out there for it, but I would be ok with it because i would be knowledgeable in what to look for, and if i wanted the assistance i would ask my sensei to come to the grading and assist for an external opinion. End of rant of my lonely opinion.

Hey all. I was wondering how your schools organise your syllabus book for students. I am asking because a friend is mine is wanting to create a syllabus book for his club and asked me to make one for him. I have shown him my old clubs book to provide an idea of what one looks like. What do you all include in yours?

Exactly still his usual black belt.

Very cool and congratulations Patrick! Thanks for the mention as well it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside

I think that is usually due to differences in culture between okinawa/japan and korea. Also due to the preferences of instructors themselves. Sensei Morio Higoanna only wears his normal black belt and no other

That is true unfortunately. I don't think Press Studs or Buttons would be appropriate due to the nature of the activity. But definitely extra ties like what you would find normally would be a positive. My fiance who i teach has a ridiculously starchy gi but she also ties the gi extra tight with the ties available and wears her belt tight. so it stays in place quite nicely

Thank you for sharing that is a very inspirational story of that young man.

To the bold type above... How so, Noah?? Well, from what my Sensei and I understand, the Renshi belt was invented by the Goju-Kai on mainland Japan, and was never an Okinawan trend. At some point in the Shorinkan's history, though, someone brought that belt from mainland Japan back to the West. As others have mentioned in this thread, it isn't worn on Okinawa (at least, not in the Shorinkan), but it is worn all over the rest of the world. It's a bit strange to have one bought for and given to you on Okinawa, where it would not be worn. I know one of my friends who i train with, travelled to Okinawa to a Goju-Ryu Dojo and the sensei there wore a Red Belt. I am not too sure about the origins of where the wearing of the Renshi Belt came from. But does sound like something Yamaguchi-Sensei may have done

I know Seishin have just released a womens gi designed for women. So i'm assuming they may have extra ties as well. There are some styles of gi i believe that if you place a special order they can accomodate with extra ties. Majority of the females at my dojo wear only a sports bra with a crop top type of singlet underneath. A few others just wear a tshirt underneath. I understand many females feel uncomfortable with what i said above. So i hope you find a solution

Our gradings are open to be watched. Personally i dont like it for our junior kyu gradings. Because i feel like it makes the kids more nervous. Our adult kyu gradings are during class so people are still training. Our Black Belt Gradings i feel like each student should have someone there to provide support and first aid during the grading itself

At my dojo my sensei specifies a white gi that is it. It can be any cut that you wish as long as it was a karate gi that is white. Majority of our students just buy our club gi (by which is no way mandatory) that is cotton of which is made by Jols. Usually it is our 1st Kyus and up buy a specialised gi for either kumite or kata. Or just better quality gi's made by different manufacturers. Many buy from Adidas or Tokaido. I personally have a Seishin Gi (which i love) and a heavier Tokaido Gi. Along with having my club gi which is slightly more restrictive than my other gis.

I hate seeing when students fail grading, but then again at the end of the day it is up to them whether they pass or not. I have spoken to many parents in the last couple of months and none of them could understand why their child failed their grading. And what I had to do was explain to them that it isn't just given to them but they have to work for it. and that effort has to be put into what their doing. Personally I have seen several people who have failed, some have taken it well and worked harder than before to reach that level that would allow them to pass. But then on the other hand i have seen some of them failing and taking it really hard. I know when i tested for my Nidan i gave it my all and was physically and mentally hit hard because of it. Because I know that I would want to truly earn it by giving 100% of myself into it. It was to the point where I got home and cried in the shower because i was so mentally worn out. Parents should know that yes they pay us to teach their child whatever MA it is they are wanting to learn. BUT the child still has to meet those requirements to be promoted. We are in a way the "experts" in our field and that we will do our best in teaching their child but they have to take the time and effort into the promotion.

At my dojo we would grade and at the following class we would receive our results. We put our new belts on and have either sensei or one of the sempai's tie our old belts (unless your brown belt up for juniors, or yellow belt up for seniors where you tie your own up). We also receive our certificates at the same time. The exception is for our Black Belt Gradings where you attempt for your black belt or any dan grading. where it takes 2-3 weeks (sometimes longer timeframe or less) for sensei to review footage and to have belts made if ordered with embroidery.

I can understand why they may not want to have videos to be shared online in terms of say kata. As it can be seen as a privacy issue. Judodad_karateson may I ask what style you do? I do Goju-Ryu and I know there are hundreds of videos relating to our kata on Youtube. But the difficult side of it is where there are minor variations to those kata even though they are from the same style. I know my sensei has released some videos for our club in which members of the club can see what a kata is supposed to look for us.

Thanks mate. Yeah it was mostly 2014-15 vision and there was a STACK of it. One of the camcorders I was given had 220gb of video to sort through! I personally shot some it throughout the year at various events, and some of it was taken off phones as well. Would have loved to travel around with the family to all the tournaments but as you know it gets expensive and karate is not a very high profile sport over here in Aus. Hopefully we'll be doing some cool stuff in 2016. It makes all the difference when the subject matter is one you love (karate) and understand, as you can see things in the vision other people wouldn't, like referee calls, coach reactions, skills that are so fast you might miss etc. I would happily make karate videos for a living if there was a demand haha. Hey, congrats Liam on your Nidan, Sensei Chris is an excellent technician and I'm sure he was invaluable in your preparation. And yep I was at Donacaster seeing the new Star Wars movie! Thanks for that I thought that was you, cause I walked past when you were eating.

Being a white belt going for promotion you are allowed to make lots of mistakes. I suffer from Anxiety and Depression, so I understand where you are coming from. I'm a 2nd Dan in Goju-Ryu and I still have trouble every now and again with some combinations. I am a bit of a perfectionist, but I have trained for 14 (15 Years in October) and took me a long time to learn and realize that if I take my time then I grow and become better. So my piece of advice is don't rush yourself in any technique, enjoy the experience and work hard. You are still new to this and it takes time to develop such coordination. I know there are a lot of people that feel that there is pressure on them to advance to the next grade by others. But they do it because they compete and feel like they need to keep advancing in grade to fight others. Personally I would say your sensei would not be disappointed in how you perform. Let me elaborate: he has taught you from day 1, and knows what you are capable of. He wouldn't tell you that your not ready to grade or to anything unless he can see it in you or if he believes you just need more time. It sounds like you have an amazing instructor, because people need to have an instructor that listens + understands your concerns and is able to help you along with it.

Unfortunately we had our last class for 2015 on the 16th December. Our juniors have a fun breakup full of games and then have some food afterwards. All paid for by our CI usually a couple hundred dollars of food. Then our seniors do a training session at our usual time, but is usually a much more relaxed class where we have more fun than doing a full on session. And is followed up by us going out for dinner around the corner. Both juniors and senior breakups we have belt presentations, mainly Black Belt + Dan Grading Presentations. then we do what we gotta do.

No I haven't had it personally done it, as neither of my parents has the patience to undertaken it. Although i think my sensei has at one point or another.

We had Jesse over at our dojo on Saturday evening. Good session primarily on biomechanics. He certainly knows his stuff. We are having Iian Abernethy out again in early 2017. If your interested I'll keep you posted. I thought so that he attended an extra dojo that day from what i gathered from one of his facebook posts. Yes please if you can keep me posted, pm me or i am happy to send you my contact details