Nidan Melbourne

As much as some instructors say that it is wrong. but he/she is right that it can waste energy. Although you bounce they can't predict when you are going to move. as they are used to you bouncing forwards and backwards.

You need to practice the kata with the correct sequence more than 100 times in a row without a mistake in it. Otherwise you have to start again.

Most of your BJJ chokes you should be cutting off air as they are blood chokes. So damage to the wind pipe and larynx shouldn't be an issue. Gene LeBell chokes people out all the time and I've never heard of anyone having any ill effects. I personally choked a guys out about a year ago and as soon as I realized he was out I let the the choke go. I'm sure if you held the choke for too long it would become a concern as your partner is not getting blood to their brain. Actually whenever you apply a choke onto a person there is always a risk that your going to damage the windpipe + larynx. My sister works in a hospital as a doctor and she has seen that people have crushed windpipes due to a person applying a choke to someone too hard. if you hold onto the choke after someone has passed out for too long (more than a few seconds) you are at serious risk of giving the person irreversible brain damage. when you apply a choke to someone and they are struggling, their blood pressure increases dramatically. If they unknowingly have a blood clot or plaque buildup somewhere in their body, and you choke them out there is the risk that they can dislodge and cause a stroke or heart attack. But what some schools fail to do is teach beginners when to tap. when i started BJJ the instructors made sure we all understood when to tap and if we are applying a choke or lock or anything like that we have to let go immediately. and also we were told to keep an eye on our partner so we can let go if they aren't tapping

Does the website have these standards listed? My old instructor had talked about them, and it sounds like a testing can be quite draining, for sure. I know I would struggle with 40 pushups right now. How old are you bushido_man96? As the older you get the less you should be able to do. if your in the 40-49 group like Aodhan is you would be in the excellent category for push ups and sit ups if you got more than 40

Personally I think you should go with Kusnaku as it seems like the 'better' kata. maybe i say that because i am a bit bias? but since you are a black belt maybe do the TKD kata

How many people at a grading attempting a promotion do you think is too many? Have a look at this video. It is of a GKR (Go-Kan Ryu) Grading - it is the last video they uploaded of this particular grading. What are the positives and negatives of having this many people attend the one grading? Personally for the kata, they should have split up the whole group so the instructors could see if the karateka is doing the kata well or going through it without really trying. At my grading we had a large group (in relation to our dojo) at the black belt grading, we all did some of the less advanced kata together (since there were 15 of us). But for the advanced kata we did it in groups of 3. at it was the same for pre-arranged sparring.

at my school (I study Goju also) seeiunchin is for brown belt, 1st Brown and Shodan-Ho going for Shodan. The bunkai for it for us is required for when we grade for nidan

In the kata he did he stepped with his left foot when he should have stepped with his right foot. As most of the goju kata start with the right foot moving (to either turn or have in front). That is why the referees were talking about it at the end

As much as the rules say variations are allowed now. He admitted in an interview after the match that he had indeed made a mistake. It is a good kata to watch/learn/do as it is one of the most advanced kata in the goju-ryu system

Interesting John for fitness testing the norms for your age group is slightly different. You are expected for your testing to do 40 push ups which is in the excellent category and so are your sit ups. as the older you get the lower the score that is expected of you to get.

I agree with you on this one. I have bad knees (so running i can't do) and swimming is exactly what i do. Especially when it comes to working on cardio and stamina. It is a high intensity low impact exercise that is an awesome aerobic exercise.

From this years world games gold medal match. Antonio Diaz performs his signature kata "suparenpei" and makes a mistake on his first step and still wins 4-1

Congrats man

I get what you mean But what some of them have told me "you have to follow our traditions" which i did politely ask so i didn't embarrass myself.

As stated in the title what annoys me about some National Sporting leagues. That some leagues around the world use the phrase "World Champions" or similar. Personally you should be using that phrase if the national league consists of only 1 country (2 max) you shouldn't use it as it would be considered arrogant (in my humble opinion). For me the only time you could use that phrase is if you have many countries (like the olympics) competing for the title. You might have international players competing for teams but still doesn't have representative teams in that competition. Like the WWE or TNA (as much as they are staged) they get the right to have a world champion as they employ people of any nationality to compete individually or as a team. What annoys you about National Sporting Leagues?

Its good to hear that your sensei is quite flexible with the curriculum. My only problem with it is that you will have students of the same rank that are learning different things. Like you might have one student who is learning that curriculum for that belt, and one still trying to learn the curriculum for the previous belt. As much as belts don't matter like you said, but for most students they will want to feel comfortable with their stuff before being graded anyway. We use "tags" on their belt to signify how close they are to grading for their next belt. 5 tags and they grade, and it depends on how well they go. At my dojo we obviously have a set curriculum for each rank. And that the students should learn everything that is set. But for some of the curriculum we have is over a range of ranks instead of one specific belt.

I agree, I visit multiple schools that I have spoken to over the years and they call me up inviting me to train. If I agree to train there one day I politely ask what rules and traditions they have. Most of the time it isnt any different to where I train but 5 of the schools I visited had a different way of speaking to instructors and how they bow in. One of those schools that was different I was most senior student there so I was excused from doing the formal words for bowing in as they were different to what I know.

I like your points. At our gradings we get our students to do things that a little bit more advanced than they are to see how they cope. but we aren't critical of that attempt. As it is just seeing what they do. as they will learn something at the same time. We do the same with kata they do one above the belt they are. say a green going for purple they do their syllabus kata of mawashi ichi but then they will attempt gekesai dai ichi (even if dodgy).

Since I started teaching I learnt all the students and how to best handle them when to encourage them. Some just need a "your doing really well" to be encouraged to do more whilst others need a firm approach. And everyone else in between.

Well i just graduated from my masters. But i am a full time Exercise Physiologist now but i am also a full time instructor. I find i manage both extremely well. As i finish work as an EP at 3:45 pm and i start teaching at 4 finish at 9. But i have a few clients that prefer to get treatment afterwards. So i normally finish at about 10. Good thing i live within' 25 minutes of my workplace

That is a good set of improvements that you are making. Not only as an instructor but as a human being. Very few people that i know (that do MA), actually have a good look at themselves and realize that a change is needed and they go improve themselves. Which benefits them greatly and also helps their students. Like for me, I realized one day that my teaching capability was lower than i thought, so i went out and learnt from as many people as i could. When i came back to teach, there was a massive improvement. As i had students who i taught previously (who misbehaved ALOT!), come up to me and said "Thankyou for teaching me today, that was the best class EVER". And the only difference i made was that i understood every single student so much better and that i was able to push every student just as hard that i knew their limits

That's what i love about teaching students When i teach i see things that they are doing wrong and when i correct them, i realize that i do that and i'm able to correct what i'm doing. Even if I have difficult students, I still learn a lot from them. Even if i realize that I act like a complete pain in the butt during my class (which would annoy the hell out of my sensei). Even if you teach a few classes over the years, you'll spot things that you can improve on.

I feel the instructor is partially in the wrong for cracking it at your child and humiliating them. What he (the instructor) should have done was tape the wires down to the ground so no one could trip or pull on the wires. which would have caused an injury or a busted computer. Which any good school would be aware of and actually doing it (covering it). Personally i would rather a busted computer over an injured student. Injured Student caused by computer wires not properly covered (taped down etc)= lawsuit unless insured by school. But since your child had gone no where near the wire, he should have just had a quiet word to your kid or even just told him to watch out for the wires whilst he is running around. And sounds strange for him to crack it at your child for him following the instructions of the instructor It is wrong of the instructor to give him a 0 because he was messing around. Especially if it wasn't during the grading itself (or was the game during the warm up of the grading?) This is why at my school, we don't use computers or use electronics (or even us sitting at a table) during the grading. We use good old fashioned pen/pencil and paper to write down our notes, and we use an ipad for the senior belt gradings (Purple Belt and up) for pre-arranged sparring a kata. But often for the junior belt gradings (White to green belts) we will use the ipad for kata. Which is only for the review process for my sensei, and is deleted after the grading review is complete (unless ALL the parents of the children at the grading give consent for the grading to be kept on record). In terms of his facebook page and not wanting to accept friend requests is a fair enough call. As I am an instructor myself i don't want students being able to see my page. Although i have now many former students that train with me and i have them on mine . I teach the adults before my class (as i train primarily in the advanced class, but on ocassion will train in the class i teach) and have many friends in that as i train with them. Is he the head instructor at your dojo? as mine will often have the other instructors do the warm up and have the 2IC (2nd in charge) will split the class up into groups and have my sensei look after certain students. As they alternate between classes of who does the warm up and splits the groups up. But my sensei usually spends 15-20 minutes of each class dealing with parents and students from the class before or during that one. And in terms of your child being hyperactive and fidgeting, he will learn to focus on what to do and what not to do. especially since he is young he is still learning how to behave in class.

Good job on putting your hand up to help teach. its always appreciated when we have students offer to help out when its needed

Like everyone said PRACTICE. relax into the stances and not force each movement. Each step should feel natural