Nidan Melbourne

Congrats KF

Yeah I can't say I agree with every point. Though I confess to not actually training Karate. Most of our forms and methodology are borrowed from Shotokan so you'd think there'd be a greater deal of crossover... These are the two that would stick out for me. In ITF Taekwondo it's always the ball of foot. The foot/ankle must act like a shock absorber and a spring to launch from. Also contradicts this other post by Jesse: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/why-karates-classic-heel-turn-is-scientifically-wrong/ I liked the suggestion from one of the comments on the article which said to try training 1 or 2 a week... Can really focus on a specific goal during your training I can agree with you on the points that you qouted from the article. Because the heel turn places excessive strain on the joint capsule in the knee. And also I have found that the heel turns are not effective for stability. Although for a kata like seeiunchin you do want to use the power from the heel to push forward. But for turns not a good idea. Training 1 or 2 times a week is always great to keep focused on what to do correctly each week.

Practice and focus on what each individual body segment is doing. You need strength, speed, power and the intentions of majorly wounding your opponent that would be in front of you

There are hundreds of Kata spread across the styles. Some Kata appear in multiple styles with their own variation. And some schools have Kata not found in other schools of the same style

Just what they said. It is the rank prior to black belt.

Just so you know it is called a Gi.

It says something about them if they're told not to say which school they are from. If they say they are shotokan the teachers would work them even harder. As you said shodokan (notice the spelling difference between the two) it is an aikido style. But as everyone has said this 1 student has done something that you don't expect to hear from a 'typical' mcdojo. What did you hear about them? I attended several classes run by their "sensei" and all of those schools were discouraged to attend any AKF sactioned competition.

I read this article a little while back and enjoyed reading it. I have to admit i do agree with these points

That is very mind blowing indeed. At my dojo we do call instructors senpai And sensei. Very few will refer to fellow students whilst they're training as senpai.

Blue belt at my school is sankyu and will normally take 2 - 2.5 years to attain. Why is your target only blue belt? Or is it just a stepping stone goal? Don't stop your karate training when you start your bjj training. Because both compliment each other very well. Because you need both skill sets (stand up and ground work). The Bjj ranks will take longer to progress through but will help your karate big time. Especially with transitioning and timing

I've had the honour of handing a few black belts over the last few years and what he said I can understand. I've told older students to never forget where they came from in their training and who helped them along the way (instructors and students alike). And I tell the younger ones once they attain their BB that every lesson you learnt, a part of every instructor is in that belt. A part of the belt has the heart and soul of the instructor in it. And a part of their wisdom lives there. But it comes from instructors are sincere about the promotion and also sincere about their training and seriousness of their training and wanting to keep their training as close to the styles roots as possible.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your search for a quality dojo in the UK. Have a look around at dojos. I understand that you would want to return to Shotokan. If you can't find a quality school in that style, then look at other styles in your area.

As we know GKR like never competes outside of their own tournaments or NAS competitions. But when i went to look for the results of some of my friends who have competed recently, I was given a surprised. I was honestly surprised by 1 lone GKR competitor, he competed in a Victorian Karate League tournament and came in 3rd Place for kata and 2nd for kumite. The Victorian Karate League is a series of 4 tournaments in Victoria, you have to attend these 4 tournaments to be selected for the State Squad. These tournaments are approved by the Australian Karate Federation (Australia's top karate federation). The Referees & Judges are sanctioned by Karate Victoria, for each event, if there is any chance of bias (a competitor and official train at the same dojo or relationship between them) then the referee will step away from the mat and another official shall step in. I know we do give GKR a lot of flack for being a Mcdojo. But this may be a small sign that there are some people who train there are actually good.

If they allow Karate to be an Olympic Sport they have to say which International Federation is the one to organize it. The WKF (World Karate Federation) is the most well known and is respected. It does look after dozens upon dozens of styles. So they would be the most likely. Kumite is more likely to be run over kata. like unknownstyle said they can't water it down.

Congrats!!!

My parents were not happy at all!

Very disrespectful and way out of line by that guest instructor. When i visit other schools to teach, I will never criticize students for doing techniques incorrectly. I will tell individual students what they can improve on if i feel like what they are doing is blatently wrong. But I will ask the chief instructor to show me their techniques so i know what is correct and incorrect for their school. For Kata i will show them a slightly different way of doing the kata, and show them the application and the reasons why we use it. But i do stress the point that every school does the kata slightly differently and they don't have to do the kata the way i've taught but to follow what the CI prefers students to do.

I liked your videos

I once broke the TV (an expensive one at that) at home once. It was when i was an orange belt and was practicing spinning kicks (stupidly) and clocked the tv dead bang in the middle with my heel Had to wear a pillow on my butt for a month after that.

Strengthen your legs. But like Mal103 said you don't have to copy your sensei 100%. YOU have to find out what is most comfortable yet the most practical for your training. I have bad knees, so my stance more relaxed, and front foot is more forward facing instead of the angle pointing in. But to what you said when learning sanchin dachi you want to bend your knees, grip your toes, and tilt your hips up and tense. It can come across as painful until your body becomes accustomed to the foot positioning. So if you have to adjust the angle of your lead foot. For loosening exercises use a foam roller to do a myofascial release (less tension in specific locations that your working on). My stances are 'natural' due to my many years of training but also i understanding positioning of my feet to effectively do different techniques and moves.

Thats true it does make life easier if you have more than 1 adult there. Especially so you and the assistant can watch over all the students.

We start teaching students at 6 formally. But at my old school the hombu dojo runs classes for 4 & 5 year olds which is called 'mighty mights' although it is a scheduled class it is run more informally until they are old enough to be able to join the actual classes. Although I am unsure if the belts in the 'mighty mights' actually cross over to the same ones in the actual classes.

I know many people who have quit at brown belt and they have told me one reason or another. But in they way they told me why they stopped isn't their true reason and they don't want to tell me because i already attained my black belt. I feel like those who stop (not due to financial, physical, psychological or moving away) stop because they are scared of reaching black belt and that they won't learn anything else, or because it would be so much more responsibility for them to have. Also i have seen people stop at brown belt because they thought it was getting too hard and that they would fail the grading to black belt. But in reality for those who are at the brown belt level are usually just refining the techniques you know (as you should usually know by now all the techniques with the exception of maybe one or two moves). That small hurdle of a grading for black belt can derail so many people because of having completed their goal and they never planned on what to do after that. I know I still have a lot to learn in my style (1 kata left and a few things for pre-arranged sparring), and to even more refine my techniques which would mean i waste less energy. But I want to learn absolutely everything from other styles [just like a sponge that absorbs everything]. So my drive to continue with MA is to learn everything that i can possible. I believe to keep them going is to reinforce them positively that they continue to learn no matter what they're rank and that reaching the black belt is never the end! When in reality it is the beginning. I get why some students spend a long time on their 1st kyu prior to grading because they don't feel ready. But to me that makes it a whole lot worse, because the person won't be able to combat the fear. Obviously you do still need the time on the mat to get that experience to be ready. When I reached my shodan-ho I felt like king of the world because i reached my goal. But i had a moment (and still feel it) when i attained my Shodan that I feel like a white belt learning new things about techniques that i've done thousands upon thousands of times and things that i have learnt yet. Which in a way does scare me but yet also excites me.

Make sure its fun and work on the fundementals. Obviously you have to scale how hard you work them according to their rank. Because you wouldn't make a white belt do a 20 technique combination. So from what i just said teach according to their rank but then make it a little bit more difficult. Even if it is adding one more technique to a combination or giving more in the warm up. When I'm teaching I make sure they are learning what they have to and start learning what they have to know for their next belt. But I will make a game every couple of weeks to keep their interest. Make sure their basics are up to scratch and correct. Correct them when needed, but be positive when correcting them and applaud them for doing it correct. That way they feel like they've done something well and will want to get more of it so they will practice to get better in their own time. Sometimes i get them to demonstrate a technique for me and to help me in an explanation of something. Works well for the lower ranked students.

We do take into consideration positioning for testing. And we do get into the same spot to finish. but not a major consideration in class. Although in gradings we do need to be able to finish in the same spot as we started because it shows that you understand movement.