Nidan Melbourne

It is one thing to know 130 kata, but another to understand them well

At my old dojo we did a light blue for a month to raise money for awareness of mental health (Anxiety, Depression etc). Obviously many Dojo's have Blue Belts in their Kyu Ranks. We used a light blue to not confuse it with the Kyu Grades.

I totally agree with you. I have trained at a dojo for a couple of weeks and they happened to have a time of all students and instructors wore pink. Due to them trying to raise as much as possible for breast cancer awareness

I just realised it and changed the settings. It now should be seen publicly

Your style does have a rather different flavor to it.

I found it really interesting of what they did.

ok. Did you try explaining to him that you didn't feel ready? I get why he suggested it, but seems like he didn't think of how you felt

thats always awkward when your gi rips when throwing or the like. in BJJ my pants have ripped a few times before. Karate the same thing has happened but the good things was I was wearing skins both times. I think it should be fine in the dojo for you, but I don't know about competitions

In Goju it is Seisan, Shotokan is Hangetsu and other styles may or may not have this kata. How does your school perform it? does it have any variations to it in comparison to other schools (if needed use youtube to tell)? We have a slight variation to it at my dojo; below is usually the standard that is at Goju-schools. At the 22 Second mark where he does a circular movement with his hands, my school we don't do that one particular part, BUT we perform three nukites to the eyes/throat instead. If I get a chance I'll video myself doing the kata and upload and share

At my school we don't have a specific way of teaching our juniors. Often to keep them interested we will do a game or two. A small thing to keep them interested is for us to do something wrong (on purpose obviously) and have them correct us. That always gets them excited to correct us on it, and it motivates them + it helps them get better with their own training

First off how old are you? Just so I can vary my answer. Sounds like you are fairly young since your dad gave you a choice. Did you feel ready to test or not? Do you pay to grade or is it in your tuition fees? Realistically I have found if you are torn between two dojo's then go with the one that you trained at secondly. BUT if you feel uncomfortable training at both then leave both and train somewhere else. That way you don't have to choose between the two. In the past i have trained at two dojo's but at one i only did once or twice every couple of weeks, due to the cost. If you have to choose one of the two schools maybe go with the one you like the most and learn the most at but still won't break the bank.

What was the antipsychotic used for if it is ok to ask? I've suffered from depression (severe) and am not allowed to take any form of meds due to being prone to addiction. Can you elaborate more on how it made you quit? I quit for a few years and i suffered greatly because of it, and i wish i hadn't because it would have helped me with it. But hey it happened and am happy to be back. Often there are drugs that make it difficult for people to lose weight. Don't feel like a quitter, even though you stopped you had quite a good reason to due to your health. I felt like that but since i got back into it I am doing it for my mental health first then my physical health (obviously physical health was returning when i restarted). Like you i also train for my physical health (weight loss for me ) but I also train for my mental health.

Congrats

Recently there was an international karate seminar organised by the author of karatebyjesse.com and read this of what he did at this seminar. http://www.karatebyjesse.com/pink-belts-karate-knx-seminar/ He changed everyone's rank for this to a Pink Belt! this is to remove the ego of those who attended and to make everyone remember that they are an equal.

Very Cheeky of you wagnerk!

you kinda have to do it in a slightly german accent as well.

That would be very interesting to try out as well. I am unsure what they did but trying out sumo would be awesome. Maybe go on youtube to see if there is anything on there

In your many years of training what is your favorite saying that you've heard your instructor say? It can also be something that you have said to your students. It can be either be a serious phrase that made you have that lightbulb moment or can be gut bustingly funny! For me it is my sensei who qouted a german cyclist who wrote a book and said in relation to a persons legs when they are in a lot of pain when doing stances, it is That Phrase that i qouted had two purposes; 1 was to make us realise that we can push ourselves further than our body is telling us and that our mental toughness can push us through it. and secondly it was to make us to relax and have a laugh

I don't think i can ever truly walk away from MA. It saved my life and continues to save my life every day. because i suffer from severe depression and still do every single day, BUT by me practicing karate every day helps me

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Personally I teach all the techniques as I was taught and how they were explained and shown to me by my instructors teacher (he has been training for 50+ years). But realistically I will also teach students how to apply those techniques to modern day attacks. Although any technique that I learn from someone else from either another Goju Dojo or another Karate schoo or even another style of martial art. I will make sure i pass on to my own students. There are also some things that I will relate to movies or everyday things. Somehow it usually relates back to the original karate kid movies

Don't freak out, everyone may be nervous or get scared during the grading. Or they may just have a bad day on the day of the grading. If you have opened your own school, maybe use the rank of Shodan-Ho? Which is in between 1st Kyu and Shodan. That way if you happen to grade in between that time of them achieving Shodan-Ho and Shodan then you can do their grading. Depending on the numbers that are at your grading, kata and kumite may take longer than the others. Also depends on the space available. If you have multiple ranks grading at the one time, maybe have the lower ones do one thing but make it a lot more difficult for the higher ranked students.

actually Surprisingly enough you can do shiko dachi to help prevent being tackled in a fight. Which is common in some situations As it is a stable stance, and if you scoot back when you are low then you can avoid the tackle but also send them to the ground.