Nidan Melbourne

Unfortunately i can't help you out on that front, but it might be interesting if he learns another style

welcome to the forum snowturtle. I'm looking forward to reading your posts

at my school we want students and instructors to respect each other no matter what rank. But we still call our chief instructor Sensei and whoever is teaching senpai (unless there are more 3rd dans and above). What gets under my skin is when people of the same rank or the one below don't show respect to others when they are teaching. Once we bow out to finish class and we are all getting changed (for those of us who do get changed fully) then we go off a first name basis.

What are your fees like? By that i mean whether they are expensive (say $200+ a month) or not.

we have the same belts for both juniors and seniors. But we don't change their grade if they move up into the seniors class. But when they do transition into the class it will take longer for them to grade because of the different syllabus requirements for juniors and seniors. Say a green belt junior moves up into the senior class he will still remain a green belt, but he will take close to an extra 18 (or more) classes to catch up on everything they need to know. For juniors our green belts only need to know up to Taikyoku Mawashi Ichi, but our adults need to know up to Gekesai Dai Ichi (and Ni). But if they (as juniors) excelled and learned those kata already and all the adults syllabus required for that rank they will grade faster.

I agree with you on that! When we are doing kumite we teach our students not to start off in carriage position (chambered) but to have hands in front to protect body and head

thank you for sharing your story

What I was taught by my sensei (I do goju-ryu) you pull back to your floating ribs. It serves as a dual purpose as a reason to pull in, and to strike to the rear (rear elbow). So don't always think of it as one way, as every technique often has multiple purposes

Here is mine http://liam-black-belt-karate.blogspot.com.au/ I also take requests for any videos or topics that people would like to see covered. Any comments to make it better would be appreciated.

Oh man Ameri-do-te that is HILARIOUS!!!

did you have an insanely hard grading for your godan sensei8?

I haven't ever heard of anyone or any organisation to have received an honorary rank. My sensei on the other hand has witnissed a few people receiving a honorary promotion to hachidan (8th Dan), but they don't feel like they deserve it.

and you find a sense of self worth also.

I disagree. I've done some pretty boring Kata. That being said, I've never done a Kata that wasn't useful to me. Sometimes boring is something you just have to look past.maybe it is just a perspective on specific kata.

I'm not wanting the chiropractic approach because, imho, I believe that that type of treatment is short-term. I'm looking at physical therapy because its treatment targets long-term results. I do like what you've suggested and I will look into it. Right now, I'm almost willing to try anything....almost!! Thank you for your advice!! It is indeed short term as they don't give you anything that you can't do yourself for long term treatment (except for going back to seeing them, and spending more $$$) The types of people you should see do focus on long term treatment and you can do the exercises on a regular basis. One of my current exercises that i do (that was given to me from my physio) not only helps my back and legs but helps relax my psoas major (a muscle in the anterior portion of the leg, that also attaches to the lumbar spine) which because it becomes tight (and sore) with martial artists. I like what you're saying here. I stretched today for 15 minutes this morning, and it went fine. Meaning that I was able to get down, and move around, and then get up with nominal pain. Still, I don't think I'm quite ready to resume my teaching schedule full time as of yet. Thank you so very much!! I can't blame you for not feeling 100% ready to return to teaching full time just yet. It is a wise decision

I'm not wanting the chiropractic approach because, imho, I believe that that type of treatment is short-term. I'm looking at physical therapy because its treatment targets long-term results. I do like what you've suggested and I will look into it. Right now, I'm almost willing to try anything....almost!! Thank you for your advice!! It is indeed short term as they don't give you anything that you can't do yourself for long term treatment (except for going back to seeing them, and spending more $$$) The types of people you should see do focus on long term treatment and you can do the exercises on a regular basis. One of my current exercises that i do (that was given to me from my physio) not only helps my back and legs but helps relax my psoas major (a muscle in the anterior portion of the leg, that also attaches to the lumbar spine) which because it becomes tight (and sore) with martial artists.

I have a slight issue with chiropractors, as much as they might be good with cracking your joints and you will feel better afterwards. But there is a significant risk of damage to joints and neural pathways. Best thing it do is go see an osteopath, exercise physiologist, physiotherapist. Any of those should help because of their training in rehabilitation of muscular and skeletal injuries.

I completely agree with you ninjanurse! When i teach i will vary how i teach with whomever i have. The quality of techniques i find is way more important than the quantity. because when it comes to the crunch time when a person has to use it they would rather be able to use an effective technique over lots of terrible ones. Imho, that's the mark of a great instructor!! Thanks Sensei8. I won't pass any student on any test until they can show that they have shown proficiency in what they need to know even if it is under pressure.

Personally i haven't experienced it. But the one thing i have learnt over my years of training is that you don't need a dojo to practice. You can practice absolutely anywhere. If your getting frustrated at home training on your own, then ask your wife to join you. Even if it is you teaching her then you get to practice at the same time and also you get to enjoy it. I've suffered from pretty severe depression for years and the one thing that i found that really helped was to teach my girlfriend. Because it made me feel important to someone, and helped me build my self confidence again.

Sorry never heard of Mark Hicks!

No kata is boring. Even the most basic of kata can be extremely advanced in themselves. I do goju-ryu and our taikyoku kata (with Sanchin Dachi and zenkutsu dachi as stances, except taikyoku gedan and mawashi ichi). They look easy yet they can be extremely complex with the movements.

20/2/14 1 hour of kihon - all basics - kihon ido ich/ni/san 1 hour of kata - Taikyoku Jodan/Chudan/Gedan/Kake Uke/Mawashi Ich, - Gekesai Dai Ichi/Ni - Saifa - Sanchin - Tensho - Seeiunchin - Sanseru - Seisun - Shisochin - Sepai - Kururunfa - Suparempei (Still learning it so i've been practicing it a lot) 30 minutes of pre-arranged Sparring - All pre-arranged sparring up to #7 1 hour of BJJ training (Open Mat) 3 sets of 30 push ups 3 sets of 30 sit ups

I completely agree with you ninjanurse! When i teach i will vary how i teach with whomever i have. The quality of techniques i find is way more important than the quantity. because when it comes to the crunch time when a person has to use it they would rather be able to use an effective technique over lots of terrible ones.

what i noticed about his traditional kata is that it doesn't have much fluidity. From what it looked like it was seeiunchin kata from goju-ryu (with variations of course) but every step it looked like he went for power yet lost its fluidity. He has some pretty good footwork, yet his hand techniques look a little choppy. If you want i am actually going to be filming some kata tonight if you would like to see what i meant by having fluidity and not being too choppy with the hand techniques.

Oh that is fair enough if you are busy with family. they are extremely important