Nidan Melbourne

My girlfriend who attended my last grading was bored stupid as it went for 5-6 hours. But she persisted in staying there and watching me. And giving support when i needed it. At any point if she was getting bored (i told her at the start) that she could sneak off an watch the basketball opposite (my basketball association plays opposite my dojo) for a little bit or you are free to head off and do something for a couple of hours. But she stayed the entire time.

Still, our numbers aren't the Hombu's concern as to the versus ratio of whom can or whom can't test at the Hombu and the like. Our annual testing cycle at the Hombu is usually over 200+ students; all who've been approved by the Hombu. Without explaining and/or revealing proprietary conclusions; our Student Master Files generally contain: >Full name, current address, and phone contact(s) >Birthdate >Sensei(s) name(s) >Rank(s)/Shogo Title(s) earned >Pass/Fail Ratio >Date of last testing cycle >Whom administrated said testing cycle(s) >Tenure Information >Signature(s) of Authority >Etc [Proprietary conclusions] I can respect you for wanting to withhold certain information for legal reasons. If I wanted to use that kind of formatting i would get permission from you first. All my old school had on file was: Name D.O.B Address Parent(s) Account details for direct debit (N/A if paid in cash or via cheque) Grading history and who graded them Start date (when they commenced training from the very beginning) How many lessons that they are at (at) their current rank. and any other notes for the student (ie if there is any outstanding fees owed)

Nope! That Jr. 2nd and 3rd Dan should allow one to test for Shodan, as an adult. I can agree with that. From what i have seen from various schools that i have visited, that the syllabus for juniors and adults are different (be it when they learn things or other). For instance kata at my dojo, our juniors do this for each belt: White - Taikyoku Jodan Yellow - Taikyoku Chudan - Difference from Taikyoku Jodan is that instead of an upper block (Jodan Uke in my school) you do a middle block (Chudan Uke). And also a middle punch instead of an upper punch. - Same footwork as Taikyoku Jodan Orange - Taikyoku Gedan - All in Shiko Dachi - Lower Block - Lower Punch Red - Taikyoku Kake Uke Ich http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_zQV5CZW0A Green - Taikyoku Mawashi Ich Purple - Gekesai Dai Ichi and Gekesai Dai Ni Gekesai Dai Ichi Blue - Saifa Brown - Seinchin 1st Brown - Seinchin Same as Brown Belt Black (Shodan-Ho) - Seinchin Black (Shodan) - Sanseru, But for the Adults White - Taikyoku Jodan & Chudan Yellow - Taikyoku Gedan & Kake Uke Orange - Taikyoku Kake Uke & Mawashi Ichi Red - Mawashi Ichi & Gekesai Dai Ichi Green - Mawashi Ichi, Gekesai Dai Ichi, Gekesai Dai Ni & Saifa (start learning saifa now) Purple - Both Gekesai Kata, Saifa, Sanchin Kata and seinchin kata (start learning it) Blue - Saifa, seinchin Brown & 1st Brown - Seinchin, Tensho, Sanchin, Sanseru Black (shodan-ho and up) - Sanseru, Seisun, Kururunfa, Seipai, Shishochin, Suparempei, So our junior black belts (if they haven't reach the age of adulthood according to my sensei - he has set the bar at 14) you can grade as a JBB to whatever dan. But if they want to grade from a JBB (say 3rd dan) to an adult 3rd dan they HAVE to prove that they know all the kata for our system (even if it just the steps) and also proven that they have served that adequate time frame as a mature student. Say a JBB 2nd dan who is 13 years old wants to grade to an adult 3rd dan we wouldn't allow it at all. As he is too young to hold such a grade and also he hasn't taken the time to learn each of the katas in depth. Also there is the fact that he wouldn't be taken seriously. So we would only grade him to a 1st dan. which would get him to train for those further years before he gets that rank of an adult 3rd dan. and by that time he would be of at least 20 years of age or older by that time he can be eligible to go for it. He would be pushed even harder because of that rank he held so he wouldn't be able to breeze through that grading knowing that he passed. The more advanced kata (Shisochin, Kururunfa, Suparempai, Sepai) have to be of a high standard for us to be able to grade him to an appropriate similar rank. For me as a 2nd dan, I had to be able to perform up to Shisochin and know (even if vaguely) Suparempai and Kururunfa. But i already knew Kururunfa extremely well (as it is my favourite kata and a tournament kata for me). Also our students are required (if they hold a JBB and want to grade for an adult black belt) to have trained in the adults class for a number of years before we consider them "full" black belts. As it wouldn't be right if they hadn't even trained in the adults class for some time.

Great work Alex! continue to be awesome as always!

Here is how I understand it, also from the top of my head. Yamaguchi was given permission to teach and empowered by Miyagi to spreed Goju in main-land japan, and ultimately around the world. Gogen Yamaguchi founded the International Karate-do Goju-Kai Association (IKGA) among others for this reason. His son Gosei Norimi Yamaguchi Founded the Goju-Kai Karate-Do, U.S.A organization. N. Gosei Yamaguchi is now the head of both. Goju-Kai is synonymous with Japanese Goju-ryu, while Goju-ryu is more synonymous with Okinawan Goju-Ryu. @rthompson In any case Goju-Kai is one of the largest Goju Ryu organisations and is very well respected in the US and Japan. It is just one of the many different branches of the same tree. at least i am relatively close

Welcome to the forum my friend and welcome back to the love of the Martial Arts! And in terms of additional training it really depends on your current physical health. Usually Yoga or Pilates are normally very good to do. Whilst normal training you would want to do cardio and strength training

It is ok if you do it at a home. Even if it means you do it with him. You can easily help him learn how to fight bigger foes. How often does he do kumite in the dojo?

Welcome to the forum and hope you enjoy your time here. Also I hope you enjoy training again!

Our juniors don't do jiyu kumite until they hold a Dan grade. And our adults do it in our advanced class. Otherwise we do awase (soft & slow), point sparring and light kumite (takedowns, throws, locks, chokes, thigh kicks etc are allowed. just no knee joint kicks for obvious reasons)

Goju-kai is basically an off-shoot of goju-ryu. From memory (don't qoute me me on this) it was gogen yamaguchi who created that organisation. Or it might have been another Yamaguchi

It is dependent on where you got that promotion. Many of our students attend a camp every year, which is held by an isshinryu school (my school is goju-ryu) and they have many styles attend the camp. They do gradings on the first two nights. One for colour belts and the other for Dan gradings. But that would cost extra. My sensei is always happy to accept those promotions. as he is also one of the presenters at the camp. The camp isn't strictly doing isshinryu syllabus but there are about 4 or 5 styles that are done. That way all students learn something from a different style and their own

Its sad to hear that he is afraid of being hit or injured. But it is weird that he hasn't been introduced to kumite prior to this. At my dojo they commence sparring as a yellow belt. But we often will match them up according to their height. That way they can building up that confidence then when they are ready we will introduce taller or harder opponents. This has been effective for our dojo and that our students have that confidence and skill to fight tougher opponents

OK that makes sense. We don't do that unfortunately. Our green belts get put through the ringer if they continue. If they slack off it will take them longer to grade and the harsher we are

We allow anyone to watch our gradings. And if we wanted to prevent anyone from watching them it would be too difficult due to our dojo being in such a public place. Our dojo is in a multipurpose room at a recreation centre. so people could watch from outside if they wanted.

If the kick connected to the head and was with the heel or was powerful enough to it there is more risk than just a KO. You run the risk of paraplegia, quadraplegia or death

Linkin Park all the way

is the pre-4th kyu mandatory for all students (both juniors and seniors) or just for one of them? Or am I just going insane?

Thats fair enough Harkon72 We have sensei for 3rd dan and above (unless they have a different title that they were awarded). Senpai (or sempai depending on what floats your boat) for anything up to and including 2nd dan or a senior student to yourself.

even though i haven't learnt any of the kata, i just watched them on youtube (thank god for youtube!!!) and nidan is pretty cool

Bouncing can cause an issue, because your opponent might have excellent skills with foot sweeps and take-downs. So if your bouncing at the same rate for the entire fight they will notice it and time said takedown or sweep to either get you down on the ground and score or mount an offensive attack when your going 'up' thats why most who do kumite and if they bounce; they vary the rate of the bounce and height to throw their opponent off. But some of them won't bounce as they want more stability

Oh and we for the more "functional" stances (the 2nd set of stances i listed) we go forwards and backwards. But also for sanchin, zenkutsu, shiko, moto and neko ashi dachi's we do either Happon Ido (8 Directional Turning) or Kum Ji Ido (Diamond Pattern) with hand or leg techniques. But also do Kihon Ido Ich, Ni and San

Heisoku Dachi || Musubi Dachi \/ Heiko Dachi /__\ Soto Hachi Dachi \___/ Uchi Hachi Dachi /_____\ Shiko Dachi \_______/ are our "non-functional" stances But we also have: Sanchin Dachi Zenkutsu Dachi Shiko Dachi Yonjugudo (45 Degrees) Shiko Dachi Kyujudo (90 Degrees but really straight line) Han-Zenkutsu Dachi - half lunge stance Moto Dachi - our fighting stance Neko Ashi Dachi - Cat foot stance Kohkotsu Dachi - 'Back' stance Renoji Dachi - 'Natural' stance

Well you should be honored in a way. without you we wouldn't have this forum to talk about MA in different ways!

Its always amazing what a small gesture of a comment on how to rectify something like a lazy and defiant student can really fix a problem. and that anyone can learn how to fix that situation

Like Hawkmoon said you are all good with those organisations.