Melau

Your goal in self defense is not to hurt your opponents, but to not get hurt yourself. By training in the right way, your portfolio of skills to achieve that will be bigger than somebody that is untrained. Saying "would you hold up against 3 random knuckleheads" is not the right wording I think. If your intent is to fight 3 knuckleheads, you really do not have self defense in mind. If your intent is to get away from 3 knuckleheads, by running or attacking 1 in order to be running, then yes, your intent is correct. By training to not lose your zanshin, your calm awareness, even when you're being attacked, is I think the biggest benefit of training any MA.

So that gives you the answer in itself I'd say. Your goal is to learn and progress as a martial artist, and that is all that is important. Whatever belt you're wearing isn't going to influence that. If you feel more comfortable going in with a lower belt, while still keeping your 'Shoshin' (beginner mind), all power to you! If the instructors decide otherwise on whatever belt you wear, because they see a white belt is not what you are in skills, they'll tell you and come up with a way to show.

Just like just following a recipe doesn't make you a competent cook, just doing the movements in a kata doesn't make you a karateka. There is meaning in kata, and more often than not has been badly interpreted. While we do see a change in this mentality nowadays, there is still a lot of misinformation and misinterpretation I think. If the interpretation of a kata, its bunkai, cannot be used in a situation where you have an 'unwilling' participant (so in a actual defensive situation), it's kinda missing the point isn't it? Which brings me to a next point. I truly believe there are good interpretations of the applications for the movements in the kata. But there is never 1 truth, for every situation is different. Attacker / defender will always differ in skill, size, competence, thus creating different situations. There are best practices, good explanations by teachers, and these should be trained until second nature. But having the excuse during a self-defense situation "But this isn't how we trained it in the Dojo, that is why it didn't work" is useless. Just like a cook has a lot of standard techniques and well-honed skills by which he/she creates a fine meal, so does a karateka need to apply his skills in bunkai. Always be aware of the 'willing vs unwilling opponent' when training things. If the explanation of the kata's movements only ever will work on a 'willing opponent' it's a good exercise, but not applicable outside of that situation. Don't confuse those 2 approaches. When a teacher will tell you 'This will work in real-live situations' but your opponent must move / behave / attack in a very orchestrated way, be humble, train as instructed, but always think for yourself. There are too many students who think they know how to defend themselves by having been made to believe that bunkai like that actually is effective, which is actually a dangerous thing to believe!

Courtesy is very important in a MA, you want to train with the intention of not injuring your training partners. You also want to expect / assume the same from your partners. You indicate this by showing respect and courtesy to each other. On the other hand, for me it is also courtesy to train hard with somebody. You come to training to become better, and I personally find it an act of discourtesy if you do not train / spar seriously if the moment asks for it. Naturally there is a difference between practice and training, so it's not hard sparring / training all the time. There is always room for fun! But show respect for those that you train with. That also means fighting hard, with a smile and courtesy. But taking it easy on somebody can also be disrespectful in as far as I'm concerned!

What I find that helps here is to follow many seminars, from varying styles. I've been taught that there's only 2 styles in karate, good and bad. Fundamentally, bio-mechanics are similar and a body can only move in so many ways. Good teachers will show you how, regardless of style. So I try to learn from seminars of Wado, Shotokan, people that try to go beyond style (Ian Abernathy as an example) and others. But it takes so much time to find time!

Sorry Melau: I am in my 60's that has to take it easy on the younger guys and not the other way around.As it should be. Be the inspiration for the younger generation!

I'd say work to the best of your abilities, but keep on pushing and testing yourself. Guy at my Dojo went for kumite tournaments quite recently, he's 62 years of age now. Yes he has injuries, had shoulder operations recently, you know, the things that come with age. But he enjoys tremendous respect for just fighting with the younger guys and testing himself.

As someone who has done karate for nearly 25 years, you get a naturally progression to the stage of an 'advanced student' of your art. We all start for our own reasons, but stay for the love of the sport, the training and often the comradery. But the more you learn, the more you start to teach. Eventually you seem to reach a stage where you teach more than you are able to train. How do you deal with it / solve it for yourselves? How do you make sure you keep up on your own training?

It's a great feeling getting your Shodan, at least it was for me. Luckily I was training with / under very competent budoka's, which also made it easier to put it in perspective. You could compare it with getting a drivers license. It's good, it's a lot of responsibility, and by far you're not a good driver yet. You now can learn to drive, drive efficiently, drive smoothly, etc. The same goes for getting your Shodan. It feels good, it means that you've learned a lot and demonstrated it well. Does not mean you're good yet. It means you have a good fundament, a good, rich soil to further develop upon!

Shoshin, beginners mind. It's good to see that you already want to go there with that attitude. I've had a similar transition, coming from 20 years of Wado / Boxing / Jiu-jitsu. Just be honest to the instructors, do let them know that you have experience in other styles. But also make clear that you're there to learn, and that you just want to train! Show up with a white belt and just have fun.

After 12 years (I was 17 at the time) I was finally old enough to go for Shodan (we have an age limit here, Netherlands). It felt good to have gotten an official recognition for hard work. However, even back then I've seen it as an 'stepping stone' kind off experience, a milestone so to speak. I was lucky enough to have very experienced budoka's around me, teachers that never stopped being students. This made sure that I understood that it's was just a first step of many, that being a Shodan means you essentially covered / understood the basics. It's good to have intermediate goals in your MA career. It keeps you motivated maybe, or it is just a good way of getting feedback from all the hard work! But the road will never stop, luckily!

https://www.dojostudio.org Trained there for half a year when I was working there. Nice dojo.

1) How did you first become interested in martial arts? My parents put me on Karate when I was little (5 years old). 2) What discipline did you decide to practice? I didn't decide, see previous answer. 3) Why did you choose that specific discipline over the other disciplines? See 1 & 2 4) What is your skill level within your martial arts discipline? Sandan (3rd degree black belt), Wado-Ryu karate. 5) What other things do you like to do? (When you're not in the gym/dojo, what else do you like to do with your time? This can be physical or nonphysical pass times) Boxing, running, saxophone. 6) What are the first 3 martial arts related brands that come to your mind. (FIRST, not BEST). Matsuru, Kaiten, Adidas 7) How do you decide what martial arts gear/equipment to get? (How do you select one type or brand over another?) Carefull comparison online, personal experience from fellow martial artists. Roughly how often to you buy new martial arts equipment? 8 till 12 months 9) Where do you get your equipment from? Is there a reason for this? Online, convenience.

Plain white gi, as few patches as possible (try hard NOT becoming a walking advertisement). Care for your gi, make sure it is clean (ironed if you really care). Then train hard.

I truly liked your post, it gives a comprehensive overview of how things can change and how to view it. The national grading is as far as I know not officially WIKF, but it is a single wado group event. The line and curriculum is quite clear. Personal preference between for instance Ohtsuka or Suzuki forms in tanto-dori or kata is accepted, but need to be done consequently and well argumented. However, even taking that into account, still differences are present in the explanation between instructors / examiners.