Nidan Melbourne

Make sure you do some rehab on your knee to help strengthen it up. I have had multiple knee injuries and I still am able to train because of rehab. and I have been promoted multiple times with those injuries & surgeries. So I am now a shodan in goju. But anything is possible

I am concerned that your withholding your promotions because your not happy with your kumite. But do you honestly spar consistently with more experienced people that can apply pressure on you, so you can improve your skill? As most people improve over time and fighting more experienced and more difficult opponents. Like Mal103 said you shouldn't be sandbagging yourself because you want to be winning at competitions. And deciding to quadruple grade is disrespectful to everyone at your dojo because it is basically saying to everyone that you think your better than they are and you don't really care for putting the time in to training in each of those grades. I have many friends throughout Australia that are 3rd Dan and above (one of which is an 8th Dan). And they have never done more than a double grading. And only one has ever double graded 4 students (in the 40 years that he has taught). And since you want to grade from sankyu to shodan in less than a year it isn't very advisable. Especially since you said you weren't ready to grade. Even if it is because your sensei wants other judges so other students won't get cheated. As you might struggle for a shodan grading. Because this isn't an appropriate reason to promote someone to shodan (or any rank at all). Like Mal103 said you don't get given one or awarded one but become one. As the one thing your doing by sandbagging yourself is cheating yourself out of is experience and mat time. But i am NOT trying to put you off doing anything, but you can do what you feel like your really ready for. But back to the point that you want to open your own school. Speak to the minister in charge of the church, as they will be able to determine if it is really appropriate for a MA to be in a church.

Its good to hear your back at training! But just keep an eye on your ribs. so you don't re-injure yourself. So just let your sensei know how your going in terms of recovery.

Practice always makes perfect. Watching videos and other methods can only compliment the practice that you do for kata. Bunkai and kihon can help with kata but still as a compliment (yet can give you a better understanding of that particular kata)

oh wow that is a lot of trophies! I am jealous! how and where would you keep all those trophies?

congrats on doing so well! it is good that you know what you were doing wrong (especially with those bad habits). So work hard on changing that and i know you will be great kumite fighter at competitions

Personally i believe Kata should be performed how you think it should be done. I have done Goju-Ryu Karate for the last 12 years and each student performs kata slightly differently for tempo/speed. Like for Gekasai Dai Ichi our green and purple belts (we start teaching them as green belts in preparation for their kata test with their purple belt). Their timing is different (mostly) to us black belts as we have insight of what the kata is doing if we were doing those techniques in real life

I have to agree partially with you there. Don't forget that there may be some internal injuries that they may have (i.e. ribs may have been broken and are healing) or are in rehabilitation from. So they may be in legit pain and will have to sit out and will be better after x minutes. And [qoute=mal103]Your Sensei is not a doctor. But some instructors have other professions, and that they may be a medical practitioner (doctor, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist etc) so they would be aware of the risks and signs of injury. So they would be able to tell if you have to rest or not (especially if you are faking it because you want a rest in general). I teach and i am doing a degree as an exercise physiologist and i can tell when someone is in pain. and if they are trying to feign the problem i check (with their permission and the parents) to see if it is real or not.

That's shocking that your sensei ignored those requests. He/she should be aware of injury risks of any pre-existing problems.

oh man that would have been painful! I have been lucky a few times when that has ALMOST happened to me. albeit they were much heavier than 120-150 pounds. 120 pounds = 54 kg 150 pounds = 68 kg I have a friend of mine who weighs in at 90 kg (198 pounds) nearly do that to me. Then a 110 kg guy (242 pounds) and a 150 kg (330 pounds) nearly land on my bits.

I have three that i absolutely love doing on people. One is the cross-lapel choke, the rear-naked choke and the triangle choke. Oh and the guillotine choke

when i attended my 1st Grading (i was 9 at the time) i was terrified because i didn't know anyone else there at the grading except for one of my sempai's. I was in tears because i was so scared. But when we all went onto the mat to bow in i had calmed down. Since then i hadn't been like that because i knew what was expected of me.

The black belt gradings at my dojo vary greatly in how long it goes for purely because of how many people are at the grading. But when i went for my black belt it went for close to 8 hours and for my shodan it was 5.5 hours long. What we do is a warm up that goes for about (give or take) 20-25 minutes, Basics 30-45 minutes, Combinations 1 hour, Kata 45-60 minutes, Pre-arranged Sparring (Bunkai, Kyogi and our regular pre-arranged sparring) which takes at minimum of 1 hour (more or less depending on numbers) then sparring which is 1 hour (give or take). For basics/combinations - we do every single technique that we are required to know: Although both times it has also been incorporated into our combinations section of the grading (so two sections in one). Which they make the combinations rather difficult so they can see how we cope with the pressure. Kata - We do every single Kata that our school does Taikyoku Jodan, Chudan, Gedan, Kake Uke, Mawashi Ich, Gekesai Dai Ichi & Ni, Saifa, Seeuinchin, Sanchin, Tensho, Sanseru, Seisan. But Senseru & Seisan are for the students going for their Shodan. Pre-Arranged Sparring: - 25 Kyogi (from Seeuinchin kata) - all of which we make ourselves - Gekesai and Saifa Bunkai - Pre-arranged sparring #1 and #2, Sanbon Kumite, Yonhon Kumite, Gohon Kumite Sparring - we spar everyone that is participating in the grading and all of the instructors that are in attendance.

Personally I think it is up to the school but if i remember correctly from what my sensei had taught me many years ago there were 5 belts that a student would have white, red, green, brown and black. White - symbolises purity and beginning to learn Red - from all the blood and sweat that they gave in learning the art (and has gone into the belt) Green - From training on grass and being taken to the ground many times (so the belt becomes green) Brown - From training on dirt and hard surfaces Black - all of those belts coming together to create a black belt then as time goes on and the belt goes grey and eventually becomes white again. As it is a circle of life

Ours are: White Yellow Orange Red Green Purple Blue Brown 1st Brown (Brown belt that has a black strip going through the middle of the belt) Black

Good luck for your next attempt! i know you will do great!!! I love your determination in not giving up until you achieve your goal. Just relax, and focus on what you do best which is your martial arts.

Personally i think it is too early to do that. As much as I understand that people want to buy a belt (particularly a Black Belt) and use it is motivation to achieve. But I have had friends who failed gradings for that belt and they stopped completely because they viewed themselves at not being worthy at all to hold that rank. Even when we have told them time and time again when we see them training that they are worthy of attaining that rank. All they had to do was to go and train for that bit longer to sharpen those skills that they weren't as confident in. And they ended up achieving that goal several years later. So it can often backfire to do it

Its great that he has been doing so much sparring. Does he focus just as much on the rest of his training (Basics, Combinations, kata, Pre-arranged Sparring & Bunkai)? I ask because you want to be well rounded out and not just be focussing on sparring. Don't try and have him "burn out" as DWx mentioned. Cause as much as sparring is important you want him to have excellent technique as well that is effective. He will find executing techniques and patterns easier if each technique is better and well trained instead of having sloppy technique. In terms of getting those extra classes added, i'd say not to worry about it. If he is at a standard (from the perspective of the sensei/chief instructor at that school) that he worthy of being promoted then he should grade. Cause the chief instructor may just see him as taking the initiative to do extra training outside of class time

Other than the technical knowledge we require our students to not only have demonstrated that they have actively learnt everything we have taught but also have grown as a person and to have developed a maturity that is worthy of promotion. We also on grading day test our students with a written exam that covers terminology and various other questions that relate to Martial Arts and the persons spiritual and other developments.

Congrats. Everyone will have a bad day but will often turn into a good one. I am not sure about your instructor but mine takes into account not only how you perform on the day of the grading but also how you train in class normally and what your attitude is like towards martial arts. So your instructor took everything into account But Congratulations on passing!

I know how it feels. It isn't that much of a special occasion when receiving your Dan Grading. I felt amazing after receiving my Black Belt in 2008 but after receiving my Shodan earlier this year it wasn't all that special like it did back in the day of attaining a new belt and training. Although i continue to train to improve myself physically, mentally and spiritually.

Congrats!!!

Welcome to the forum hope you find some interesting information on here!

Congrats Harkon72!!! you have been one of the members to inspire others with your knowledge and wisdom

Take time off to recover and let your ribs heal. You can still go and watch to see what is happening + will keep you feeling like you haven't missed out on anything