student_karateka

Thank you. Several great points. One thing I especially take to heart is the observation is that I am constantly rushing in... I notice I often get caught when I do that.

It will be on August 8th. Looking forward to testing my skills again. This is the last year of the GSKA tournaments in California so I want to do my best while I can.

That you all so much the feedback is invaluable! Several good suggestions!

Here is one where I felt happy with my performance. i am in all white for both. Here's one I am not happy with. I can try to find others. I feel like I should totally revamp how I spar. I am liking TJ Dillashaw's approach.

Only six or so matches, maybe eight. I like the idea of meditating; I'm definitely going to try that.

I always wear a cup for the entire lesson. At a recent tournament I got nailed in the groin but thanks to my cup, I didnt feel a thing...of course that wasn't a child. I would also add that for opponents with less control, a cup is even more warranted.

Thank you for your feedback! It's actually against the rules to be coached by anyone during a match but I have video'ed most of my matches for later critiquing. Like I mentioned, I haven't won yet so they're all videos of losses. I need to really study how I lost. My Sensei urges me to relax and I have to talk to him more. Again, thank you!

I'm pushing too hard. I am rushing in. Trying to be more aggressive when it's in my nature to be a counterstriker. Nervous about losing. I haven't won a single sparring match yet at a tournament. It feels like test anxiety in a subject that I'm not strong in. For belt tests I am fine but now every time I spar, I am getting nervous.

I've been talking to my Sensei about this though I am quite interested in your opinion. My biggest foe when it comes to tournament sparring is failure to RELAX. What are your thoughts on this?

I don't know, Pinan Shodan has different stances, different arm position in a couple of places, two foot stomps that Heian Nidan doesn't have, a very marked change in tempo for the reinforced block on the way back, so that leans me to believe that while they are clearly both very similar to each other that their differences just go beyond variation among dojos; I think they are different katas but they're still both wonderful. Pinan Shodan is my tournament kata so I am partial to it though I learned Heain Nidan before. Now in terms of differences among dojos, let's look at the nukite on the way forward where the kiai is. Some people have their fingers totally straight as is taught in Shotokan while others bend their fingers in such a way that all four fingers are even with each other. That kind of difference I would chalk up to variations among dojos and would NOT consider that difference to be enough to make them be considered different kata. Plus I don't think there are any pinans that are like Heian Sandan. Not sure...

I thought they were different, like Heian Nidan is close to Pinan Shodan or something. Our style has us learn the Pinan series but I have previous experience with the Heians. The Pinan Shodan we use is very similar to Heian Nidan but that's all: there are several important differences such as we have foot stomps and the reinforced block facing away from front is slow and reinforced plus other differences...One main difference between Heian Nidan and Pinan Shodan is that when coming forward, Heian uses back stances and (at least our) Pinan uses catfoots.

There's a saying that the beginner is the most important person in the dojo....(if there is a most)

I agree with Funakoshi but I also agree with you that there are multiple ways of going about doing it besides karate.

I train in the Ko Sutemi Seiei Kan style of karate which is relatively younger than Shotokan but in many respects very similar to Shotokan (which I went to yonkyu in in the 90s). Here are the kata requirements: 1st kyu: I'm actually not sure what the names of these katas are; one of the three is a weapons form involving the Sai. There are 3. 2nd kyu: Bassai Dai, Enpi, and Sushi no kun sho (a bo kata) 3rd kyu: Sanchen, Nohai (the blind man's kata), and an in-house kata they call nunchuku ichi which is the weapons form for this rank 4th kyu: Pinan Godan, Seisan, and an in-house kata they call bo ichi which is the weapons form for this rank 5th kyu: Pinan Sandan and Yon 6th kyu: Pinan Shodan and Nidan 7th kyu: Fukyugata ichi and ni. 8th kyu=white belt in our system In our system a 1st kyu brown belt is expected to know all of the above which by my count is 18 kata in all.

Very interesting! Itosu was one of Funakoshi's teachers, right? I'm not super well-versed in the history of Okinawan styles besides the basics.