Canadian77

I hear you Safroot, ours is the same. I'm training myself to say it instead of 'yes' at the dojo, because it seems like the right response there, so I can definitely see saying it in the wrong place accidentally, lol.

I've read that it's fine when your symptoms are the neck and above, but when they're below the neck (bad chest cough, stomach flu, etc.) then you should take some time to rest.

I wanted to add that I don't see any harm in starting early when you consider how you learn. I am new to martial arts as an adult - - only 6 months into my karate training. The curriculum is huge, and so there are some things we cover almost every class (such as kata, certain basics, etc.), there are others that we come back to regularly but not every day. I find that I get more and more out of things with each repetition. I fine tune, I pick up a nuance, I become more coordinated at a certain move, I get faster, etc. The process will be a bit slower for young children, but they certainly do improve, correct, speed up, etc. with each class, and they have so much longer to do that. If they enjoy it, and are learning, then that's what matters. I don't' think they should be pushed into it, but I don't think they should be excluded either.

So far I've had the opportunity to try a little bit of bo, tonfa, nunchuka and boken. I've also done some knife defense. I love the variety that the weapons add to our curriculum. We also do sai fairly frequently, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Yes, same here. I think it's good to be mindful of cultural differences when travelling, and I'd want to research a little more before I went to Japan or somewhere else to see what is expected there. But for our dojo it is used as a respectful way of saying "I hear you", "I understand", "I'm clear", etc. And because it is used that way, then it is a respectful thing for us, within our dojo.

A program can start young as long as it takes into account the attributes - - attention span, coordination, etc. - - of that age. For younger kids there needs to be lots of energy and plenty of fun, but even four isn't too young to start to learn that not every aspect of everything you do is fun. Some of it should be, but some of it is more serious (safety issues, respect, etc.), and being firm but including a lot of positive feedback (high fives, etc.) helps kids learn the tougher lessons. Martial arts are a great place to learn a lot of this, and I feel sad at the idea of kids who are young not being allowed in martial arts. However, I definitely agree that the program must be geared to what is a reasonable expectation of the age.

Watching my four-year-old son in a proper karate class I have to say that it CAN work well. But I agree that instructors make a big difference. My little guy is able to learn important safety things at this age and apply them - - he won't do his knee strike in self-defense practice unless his partner has his hands ready, for example. He knows where he is and isn't allowed to punch in sparring. I know that kids are different, but some of them can handle a little serious, especially in safety issues. However, his senseis find lots of ways to make it fun as well, making warm-ups into games, giving fun encouragements ("Do a superhero punch!"), bringing some energy, and so many other ways. He is really learning some self-control and improving technique while having a great time.

Jaypo, it's funny to read your post, as I am that lower belt who feels great having tagged a black belt, even though I know they're letting me in. I'm finding exactly as you say, that I always feel a little nervous when I bow to a black belt, but I always find it a lot more fun than sparring another lower belt or slightly higher than myself. I also learn a lot more with the black belts. Your attitude toward sparring the lower belts seems to be just like the other black belts I've sparred with, especially the older guys. A couple of the younger teens are a little tougher...lol. As a woman who really has never done any kind of fighting besides the occasional minor squirmish with my brother as a kid, this is a whole new world. But I think it is challenging me in a good way, pushing me past my fears. And the black belts with your attitude are a huge help. So even though I'll likely not spar with you personally, I still thank you on behalf of us newbies!

Not sure if this is just automatic and so not mentioned yet, but we also have to practice our kata in other directions, as well as on the opposite side (ex. everything generally done to the right is done to the left and vice versa). This is once we are fairly comfortable with the regular way, of course.

After getting my orange (third) belt last week, I got my first little "karate wound" - a scraped knuckle from a class dedicated to pad work. It might seem silly but I wear this skinned knuckle like a badge of honour, lol. I expect there's more to come! Also thought you would get a kick out of this. My son started training just before I did, so we are both about half a year into our training. Usually our classes are separate, but once a week they offer a family class, so we do occasionally get the opportunity to be in a class together, which he loves too. He is just four years old but picking it up rather well. He loves sparring, which he has just started on a very basic level, and loves any sort of grappling type stuff we get to do, self-defense, etc. Basically he loves to beat Mummy up...lol. But he is respectful about it. Anyway, the funny story was the other day as he walked by at home, I pulled him up into my lap for a snuggle - Moms are allowed this. What does he do? Tap-tap on my shoulder! I had a good laugh and said, "Hey! You can't tap out of a hug!!" What a nut, lol.

In my son's class when it is a large class the instructors will sometimes throw in a quick and enthusiastic game of "Sensei says" to pull them back to focus. Or, put them into two groups, and the group with the best focus wins, or the group where someone loses focus may have to do a few push-ups, etc. The big thing seems to be enthusiasm. It keeps their attention and snaps them back when they lose it.

Thanks everyone! Enjoyed my first class as an orange belt tonight. Started learning Heian Sandan.

Last night I graded for my orange belt, my third belt so far (white-yellow-orange). Had a great time and looking forward to learning a new kata.

Thank you so much for your nice words and advice No they didn't tell me that but I felt it Anyway I will keep trying and hopefully don not lose motivation Ok, well then from the sounds of it I bet you feel frustrated more because you see how far you still have to go - - but you should have far to go! You are still beginning this journey! I am new to this as well, but I do have experience teaching another precise physical art, and I can tell you that more corrections is often a good sign, not a bad one. It usually means the teacher sees potential in you, and feels you can handle it. If your sensei is giving you many corrections then he feels you have the ability to make these many improvements. He has faith in you that you are up to the challenge! It can feel counter-intuitive, but really it's an encouraging sign! Try to look at it from that perspective. And I also suggest keeping track of this thread. Look at it a year from now, and you will be amazed at how far you have come!

That's the way I was taught to do stance transitions in my TKD school...and my Kyokushin instructor has been working on getting me to change that to a "direct" step. Not sure if it a Kyokushin thing or personal/school preference. Interesting, hammer. Good to know!

I just tried looking up the kata you are talking about on youtube. Some of them don't seem to do what I'm talking about, but this guy definitely does:

When you move from front stance to front stance does your foot move in a kind of "in-out" pattern? That's how we're taught to do it, and it helps a lot with getting the front stance wide enough. Does it make sense when I say that? Like, you start in a front stance, your back foot has to move in (as well as forward) to get to the other foot, so then it goes out (as well as forward) to get to the next front stance, so that foot makes a sort of arc. Then as soon as the foot is down you anchor the back leg making it nice and straight. We do a lot of front stance practice with our hands behind our back and backs straight, just going from front stance to front stance. Then you can do it backwards too. Does that help at all? I'm curious, did they actually tell you your standards were too low to pass, or did you just surmise that from all the corrections you got? I know it can be disheartening, but I can tell from all your posts that you are really passionate and care a lot about karate. In other words, you have the 'heart', and that will get you to your goal. The learning curve might be a bit slower than you would like right now, but I am confident you will get there!!!

We do this at the beginning of each class, and I always use that short time to picture all my stress as a big cloud floated out the dojo door. My mind is 100% on karate after that until after class. It sounds silly, but as a Mom of little kids my life is full of little stresses, and this really seems to help me.

Gi's have drawstrings or elastic waistbands, now a days. I've never thought that the belt was a way of holding up ones pants, never. A quick look at any belt tells me what level of experience said student is. Now, I can proceed forward in teaching said student what's appropriate for that rank. I also agree with the whole post, but I think this is especially important. I'm only a yellow belt, but I never get the impression I'm being looked down upon by higher ranks. It helps with safety to know who is less experienced. It helps with learning for sure - - if I am shown something way too advanced and quickly for my experience level I won't get much out of it at all. But the impression I always get from higher-ranking people at my dojo is completely positive - encouragement and praise for the ability I have been able to reach for my rank, etc. But also, I don't feel they take it too easy on me - I still feel challenged, which is good. But mostly there really isn't a lot of focus on rank. It's a group of people enjoying learning a common interest together, helping each other.

Excellent points here. In our dojo push ups are occasionally given, but it makes sense. For example, if you are late to class push ups may be given as a sort of punishment, but you have missed some warm up and need to get quickly warm. Or if the focus is just not there - - someone is being lazy and not listening, which is more the kids than adults - - push ups may be given. This would help the focus as there is a task to focus on, but also a good incentive to stay focused (avoid more push ups, lol). Or if people just aren't working hard enough in warm up, and need to work harder, push ups may be given. A proper push up is hard to do in a lazy way, so that would work. I have never seen push ups for someone not getting a technique. I agree that wouldn't make any sense. Practicing the technique is the only way to get there. A good instructor will try different ways of showing the technique, or explain different ways of thinking about it, to help.

Your belt tying method sounds similar to mine. If your sensei doesn't correct you then I'm sure it's fine!

Ah, too bad. Hopefully you do find a place to try it one day. It's too bad you're so far away. Our dojo offers some cool workshops periodically, and we have one coming up.

Safroot, does your dojo have weapons training? If so, which ones, and when will you get to give them a try? At our dojo we have them, and I have already had a couple of times trying bo, as well as tonfa once. I love the variety it adds, lots of fun! We got a little history lesson on them in the dojo the other day, which was really interesting. I didn't know anything about the weapons, so I quite enjoyed it.

What were you doing to get your first injury? Should I say congrats on going through that rite of passage? Lol. I'm glad to hear it doesn't sound too bad at least! Lol ... It was during sparring (7 rounds) That would have been my guess!

What were you doing to get your first injury? Should I say congrats on going through that rite of passage? Lol. I'm glad to hear it doesn't sound too bad at least!