Nidan Melbourne

If it started randomly i would be really concerned about it. Although i do know my dojo (it turned 5 this year) started doing camps this year and but not as a pre-req for any grading. We started doing them as a way for our students to cover all their syllabus and extra. Also we do a lot of testing of our students to help them improve. We have 4 schools that take part in this camp now. and have about 10-15 instructors that help out. I am one of the instructors and was (not surprisingly) in charge of fitness testing. And before the camp every participant had to fill out a medical questionnaire so i can evaluate if they need medical supervision. the funniest thing i found was that the adults loved the 20m shuttle run (aka the beep test) and the juniors loved a test called the YMCA Submaximal Cycle Test

They may have built off that study, but from reading DWx's post, it sounds like they maybe tried a little too hard... Yeah I have a little bit of an issue with their method. In particular I think they didn't exactly have a very wide number of participants. In fact they were struggling to get people to complete the self defense course. Those that were deemed vulnerable from experiment 1 didn't even have the inclination to finish up the self defense course. Also telling someone to walk across the room and pretend they are walking across the park isn't very good I don't think. To me this is very suggestive and the person walking may sub-conciously change their behaviour because the tester has effectively told them that they need to pretend they are vulnerable. There's also no control as to how effective the self defence courses were as we all know there is very little quality control there. The courses people conducted before the study could have been rubbish or excellent but we don't know. Similarly we don't know the quality of the course used in experiment 2. All we know is that it was how to defend against verbal and physical attack and not how to avoid attack in the first place. It's a good basis for future work but I don't think we can read too much into the results. its a shame that they did the study in that fashion. There are too many extraneous variables for it to make it valid. If i was the researcher i would have had videos of participants in their daily life but without them realizing that they are being filmed (but they have consented prior to any filming being done). So it would be a longitudinal study. Then they could use the film for their evaluation techniques. For actual self-defense courses they could be teaching those whose participate in them to how to defend themselves safely from all their concerns. Like keeping an eye on those around them (and to see if there is anyone following them).

That is a good point. But, in a wierd way, they kind of help by exposing others to the Martial Arts to begin with.You are right it did expose me to the world of martial arts but I did learn stances and blocks really well and there were some very talented people there who had nothing but the style but it kind of set me up for when i moved on in terms of mentality of the martial arts but i found that the focus on class numbers and politics was a big thing and i feel it is a substandard style having mastered the syllabus by 4th kyu and i became much happier when i left and started learning more and better things. Overall it gave me a starting point but i would only recommend it to those people who have a family and want to do karate with their kids in same class as a way to bond and keep fit and to those who want to be a black belt by age 12 (something i came across). Yeah you have to be a bit suspicious of a style where you learn everything before you hit black belt. I have looked at their website and they say that they learn or are introduced to advanced kata at different grades but i doubt many of them are knowledgeable about those kata themselves. There are a couple of students that are black belts that are 12 at my dojo, BUT they have trained for multiple years (obviously). And they cannot grade for Shodan until they have matured a fair bit and have become older. our youngest shodan is 14 but held his shodan-ho for 3 and a bit years before grading for it.

Is that you training more regularly than those who don't do that accelerated program?

Yeah at my school we have class attendance and time guidelines which we follow quite rigorously. But after about green or purple they take a lot longer than others. as a minimum of time is 30 lessons (so 30 hours) but most students do a 'double' class but they are only credited for the single class. If they are say an orange belt and they did the double class from their first class of orange belt then they can be close to 60 hours of class time before a grading and still have 30 lessons. For Dan Gradings we have a standard of the grading they are wanting to grade for + 6 months. So when i grade for my sandan it will be 3 & 1/2 years before i can.

Had a huge one this morning. 3 Sets of 10 reps Reverse Lunges 3 Sets of 10 reps 1/4 single leg squat 3 Sets of 10 reps Power Lunges 40 minute run - 50 m sprints with proper technique those were from my physiotherapist. followed with 10 reps (3 sets) leg press (130 kg weighted) 10 reps (3 sets) chest fly (variable weight) 10 reps (3 sets) lat pull down - plus variations (Lats, Triceps and Biceps) 30 mins mod-vig intensity Cross-Trainer 1 hr of kumite (1, 2 or 3 on 1 sparring), with about 30 secs in between rounds to get water.

I would have thought there would have been a couple of schools there. Especially since it is considered (As far as i know) one of the 4 "traditional" main styles of karate. Where i live we have at least 3-4 schools of each style throughout Victoria (1 state alone of Australia). As most schools we have here have more than one dojo available. My old school had 4 dojo's throughout melbourne - Kew, Ashburton (Hombu), Mill Park and Moorabin. Where I am now (new school) just has one in Balwyn.

Where do you live? Which styles do you currently study? I haven't really done much in terms of other study in karate so i am unsure?

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