Nidan Melbourne

oh there are some applications for techniques in kata that can be absolutely devastating. gotta love it when my sensei shows them to us

the point of doing kata is to give you a set of techniques that can help you defend yourself from an attack. in saifa for instance you do a foot sweep, hammer fist, Kake uke & uppercut in that sequence. You can do a footsweep on conjunction with a takedown and take it to the ground. the hammerfist could be used from someone grabbing your shoulder you grab it spin around and deliver a hammer fist to their nose

Rest, ice, compress and elevate. you would have a grade 2 sprain and it would just need a few days to recover. some physios, exercise physiologists (my degree) will recommend you put your foot into a neutral position (leg straight and toes pointing straight up) and tape it up when you start walking to help prevent extra damage

We call my instructor Sensei or sensei Chris (his name). and then the other instructors Senpai (and their name if there is more than one senpai). When we have any other rank i.e. a 5th dan we will go for the proper title of shihan (unless he specifies otherwise)

i noticed that a lot from a lot of dan graded karateka's. But to me i have always asked any student (even white belts) to watch my kata and give me any feedback they thought was necessary. Even if it was them asking what a technique (or sequence of techniques) does.

I love it when i learn a new (and difficult) kata but also certain kata i have a good laugh at it when the move seems particularly weird or stupid. Then we go 'ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo' when we get explained of what it is used for

Shodan in Goju-Ryu Karate and white belt in Brazillian Jujitsu

I believe skipping grades is ok. As you may be a white belt but you might be demonstrating a skill level that is way above the level of yellow belt. That is the only reason why i would allow a double promotion.

well to me you keep it (if they stop for under 5 years) as you have worked hard to earn it. But if you stop for more than 10 years (with NO training) then you should really go back to a white belt as you may have forgotten the syllabus. As i stopped for 5 years i still kept my rank

Hey all, i was wondering what ranks does your school go by to get your black belt? As i find it interesting to see what you do as every school does it differently. Also how long (on average) does your students remain at that rank? my school (and my old one) does: white - 30 lessons yellow (some students say 'gold') - 30 lessons orange - 30 lessons red - 30 lessons green - 36 - 42 lessons purple - 36 - 42 lessons blue - 36 - 42 lessons brown - 60+ lessons 1st brown - 60+ lessons Black Belt

yes it totally normal to have your instructor spar with you as soon as you get your yellow belt. my sensei starts going into light kumite once you get your green belt.

we should avoid being "buddies" with students in a 'teacher-student' fashion as it can portray you in a different manner and they won't take you seriously. But my sensei is good friends with most of us senior adult students (Black Belts only) as we are treated as equals and he sees us as colleagues and as students. we don't joke around during class or anything like that. he allows us to have a laugh during class and still remain focused

In my school at least we will spar who ever we want. Although an unwritten rule (at my school) we don't allow kyu grades to ask a Black Belt out of respect. As we follow the rule that they are your senpai and that you should wait for them to ask you, especially if they weren't doing kumite in the first place. They have to wait to be asked if a black belt is about to do kumite. Otherwise if our entire class is doing kumite then we don't worry about being asked

I wouldn't worry about it. I only bought my gi from my sensei but bought my mits and pads (sparring gear) from a martial arts store in my town

As much as long classes are good (as you put it 4+ hours) you have to take into account of how many people actually would be able to attend. As most parents wouldn't be happy about their kids staying there for a fair while nor would adult students be able to do it due to work or school committments Then there is the fact that you have to pay rent for that time as well

My sensei spars every grade that is eligible for sparring (white belts are the only grade that isn't eligible). Pressures more advanced ranks but teaches the lower ranks.

My sensei will push us fairly hard but depends on what we are doing. But often if we do pre-arranged sparring we will go through indepenently in pairs so we can cover everything that we know (up to roppon kumite) then bunkai we do as a class (gekesai, saifa, seeuinchin bunkais) and our kyogi (although we only do it for grading prep). Kumite we go 100%

Contact various schools to ask for help, or ask some senior students from your old school. At my school my sensei asked a shodan-ho to assist teaching (now a nidan) and is now a full time instructor. And that was when the school opened in late 2008. And on occassion when sensei and senpai are unavailable, us adult black belts take over the reigns for the classes. Or sensei will call collegues to fill in from other schools (4 instructors are on call if necessary from other schools)

Sparring is good at all ages. But if they are young (under the age of 14) they should be closely monitered. Since they still are learning correct technique and control. Once they are old enough (or ranked high enough) they are more able to control themselves and not hurt their partners. So sparring is good at any age.

Well personally i have failed a number of people (both junior and senior gradings). They failed because they weren't showing the level of competency of the rank they were at the time or the one they were attempting. They weren't trying to do their best and just expected to pass without thr effort

Thats amazing!!!

I'm sure your sensei would have wanted you to go for your promotion.

Congrats

Go for it fella

Go for it fella