Nidan Melbourne

1. Where are you from? I live in Melbourne, Australia and have lived there my whole life (all 21 years of it) 2. Why did you get started in the martial arts? I got started in MA because I was getting physically and verbally bullied at school when I was young. So my parents wanted me to learn how to defend myself so it would stop (which it did). But also it was to improve my self esteem and various other social aspects of myself. That way i could be more confident in myself to be able to do anything that i want. 3. Please briefly describe the styles of martial arts that you have taken and your ranks in them. I am a 2nd Dan in Goju-Ryu Karate and a lovely White Belt in Brazillian Jujitsu. Goju-Ryu is an amazing style of karate as you have both hard and soft techniques, also that you can learn how to defend yourself without absolutely destroying your assailant. and BJJ is a good MA as it gives you the fundementals of ground fighting and how to defend yourself well whilst there. Also how to do takedowns, throws and locks effectively. 4. Do you remember how you found KarateForums.com? Why did you join? Well yeah i remember how i found it! I just googled GKR (because i was bored one day) and a link to a karate forums thread was the top hit. I clicked on it and found the forum very interesting and wanted to join. Also before i joined i read multiple threads and saw that i could learn something and have discussions with like minded people. 5. Do you remember how you found KarateForums.com? Why did you join? And why did you stay? Well i kinda just answered it in the last question so look up (hehehehe i'm so cheeky sometimes). I stay because it is interesting and i can get peoples opinions on anything that i am thinking about on a particular day. 6. What does KarateForums.com mean to you? Friendship for one to an amazing community. But also a learning experience. 7. Do you remember how you found KarateForums.com? Why did you join? Google and to learn 8. Can you share a memorable moment within the community where you received great advice or an experience that really affected you and your martial arts journey? There are no singular memorable moments for me. Majority of responses i get has effected me in some positive manner. so all i can say is that since i joined it has been a memorable moment!

Hey all. I'm planning on going overseas next year in particular America and the UK. Which cities should I visit? I also plan on training whilst travelling. If I do visit a city with one of your dojos, I would like to visit you guys and do a class. Thank you All if you can help me out. Liam

What type of gymnastics?

They are covered by our instructors insurance but for some reason (because insurance companies are just cheats to MA's maybe?) They charge extra to us to add extra numbers more. as they all say that if you want x students you pay $y and if you have more than that you will pay $x. And my sensei is in the process now of getting it sorted properly. My issue with junior students not sparring till they are a Dan grade is that they Arent really learning what it is like to be hit and to overcome that fear of being hit also. I do understand why most do it (no sparring till Dan grades) Our students start sparring at 9th kyu but it is soft and slow ONLY. so they have to have a flow to it without the hard contact. but introduce point sparring at green or purple. and light sparring (thigh kicks, foot sweeps, takedowns, throws etc are allowed in this only) at brown (2nd kyu and up) When people sign up they get a comprehensive breakdown of what they are paying for at the different membership options. mostly it is just how long each one lasts for.

Oh and you only pay $35 total for the first 3 lessons and includes the GI and also insurance for those lessons. On the 3rd they sit down with you to see if you want to join up or not

Unfortunately my former school and current school require a gi to be worn from the 1st class. but you get to keep it even if it was for one class and you didn't like it. We have no alternate uniform. Otherwise the only other equipment they buy is a set of mits and pads (+ groin guard and mouth guard) which isn't until their yellow belt (9th kyu).

Find someone who knows the martial art really well. should ask the head instructor lots of questions about what the MA and the organization. I wish someone told me to question the instructors actions and past.

It's banned in my area as weapons (of any kind) are tightly controlled. You require permission from the police comissioner to buy and own a weapon (ie a sword or other except for prohibited weapons where your not allowed to own them at all). so tournaments in my state don't have weapons sparring. Only weapons kata and demonstrations are allowed to utilize weapons.

I feel like educating them the next time they door knock

Excellent words harkon72

Solid post!! Very solid post. Very entertaining when they try and be awesome when they are not

Great list patrick!!!

Commitment? Always patrick

Damn looks like I am getting up at 5 am to have a listen

Did you have luck asking at your dojo for them? I'm curious of what they look like. Any chance of a video?

Respect sure does go a long long way also does humility. Its good that you went back to the very start to relearn everything as a sign of courtesy. Also if you had gone back straight as a brown belt people might have thought you were some poser or who the heck would have graded you to brown belt.

I find it interesting how some schools have different ideas on what colored gi's people should wear. My school lets us wear what ever color we want but normally everyone goes for either a full white gi, white top gi top and black gi pants, red gi, or red gi top with black gi pants (so like a santa ninja). But the red gi and its variant is reserved for black belt and above

25 Squats 25 "regular" pushups 25 "Tricep" pushups 25 sit ups 25 crunches run 15 minutes at moderate intensity 10 hill sprints (20 Degree incline) 3 sets 10 minutes shiko dachi - pivoting hip thrust - Pivoting hip thrust and recover 30 minutes of kata - equates to 5-6 kata

Be it from any country or code of sport.

I sure hope they do learn from it. Especially if they are preparing for their black belt grading and not taking things seriously is a massive worry. The last 2 students who were promoted to their shodan-ho they act like complete buttheads often but they do take things seriously when were training. And took any advice on board and improved on it.

Not only do I watch people but I look at people for a potential threat. If I feel there may be a potential threat I'll look for any potential weak spot if they do actually attack me. but I also look at them going "what did they do to themselves?"

That is a good point. But, in a wierd way, they kind of help by exposing others to the Martial Arts to begin with.That's the only good thing they do [making people aware of Martial arts]

Its good to hear you found someone who is (albeit somewhat) closer!!

I do goju ryu karate and bjj. I've used both in different situations before. once when I was already on the ground at the beach and was able to use my bjj training to defend myself. And my karate 4 times before and all times was lucky that I wasn't injured. Every time I was able to restrain the person effectively and strike hard enough to stop their attempts of harming me but not hard enough to injure seriously.

Tbh I people watch on a regular basis (purely because I get bored really quickly). And I have noticed how people walk and how they show their confidence and other aspects of themselves. I have many friends who have unfortunately gone through the criminal system for several different reasons and they all have told me that their victims were easy prey because of different reasons. But they are all reformed people and their sentences were less than a year and weren't crimes that you couldn't get a visa because of it. They have told me that it was because their victims were smaller, weaker or (not trying to sound sexist) females. Or that was because it was at night or their hands were full.