Canadian77

Ha, nice. I completely agree.

This might help you to know. I am just a few months ahead of you time-wise, and I am finding, just now, that with the basics coming a little more automatically the more complicated things are easier to pick up. Learning my second kata was much easier than learning my first, even though it is a more complicated kata. Even the more complicated self-defense routines are coming easier than the basic ones did. My point is that you won't progress at the same pace as you have been. Focus on the fine points of the basics, as your sensei requests - - the more complicated stuff will come to you more quickly becauseyou'll have a firmer grasp on the basics. Also, as a teacher of another physical art (highland dancing - - a very aerobic traditional form of Scottish dancing, done over swords, etc.), I can say with certainty that it is MUCH harder to break a habit than to learn something new. Focus on perfecting technique in those basics now, when they are still new. And also, I still get lost in combinations! But it is getting better. You will notice a huge difference in two months!

I agree too. My heart rate usually stays up for close to the whole hour. You definitely both need and develop good endurance!

Reaction time is definitely a huge issue for me. Hopefully it will improve.

My sensei has said that people have told him they need to get into shape before they try karate, and he says that is the wrong perspective - he says start karate and they will get the person whipped into shape. In my experience it's best to just start karate and physical fitness will follow pretty quickly. - - I agree completely with my sensei on this one. It's already made a very noticeable difference to me, and it's only been four months!

Throw a few fakes. There is one thing you can do, but it may be risky. Basically, throw the same move about two or three times such a jab. Then throw a fake jab, followed by another move such as a punch. I'm not sure if this is the best piece of advice mind you. Sounds like good advice to me; I use fakes and dummies quite a lot, and it's really funny how well they actually work!! Especially the mae-geri one: lift/jerk your knee up as if you about to kick - they usually lower their guard to block - and in that instant you lower your leg and strike at their head. And don't worry: you WILL get better. More great advice, both of these. I'm taking all this to heart and will keep practicing.

Lol!! That's a new perspective!

I've noticed at my dojo that there are a lot of different sounding kiais. Your descriptions above sound just fine. It is more about the oomph you put into it than the exact vocalizations you make. Mine varies a little bit too, but the only time I get corrected is for leaving it out. So I wouldn't worry about what you say, just make sure you say it!

Congratulations to him, what a huge accomplishment!!

Had a look at the link for Kyokushin in Canada, and it doesn't look like there are any dojos in my province, which might explain why I knew nothing about it.

I doubt very many students at our dojo fail a grading - - but that is purely because they won't be put up for grading until they are ready. We are always assessed, including attendance and effort. So in that respect, people doing lower belts are unlikely to fail. I agree that you have to watch out for rumours. In a situation like I have described, someone could say similarly that everyone passes in the lower belts - - but that would give the wrong impression, obviously. As far as the young ones go, our dojo also has the six month minimum. The belts are also a lot more split up with a regular and advanced belt than they are for older student and adults. If a little one just isn't ready to move out of white belt, they may be able to grade for a white advanced belt. It helps them see a goal realized without rushing them.

Great, thank you for doing the leg work for me safroot! Those sound really interesting and I look forward to checking them out!!

That's right ... Kyokushin is bit different in terms of female practitioners and that's why I initiated this thread ... even on youtube it's very hard to find female kyokushin videos Interesting. I didn't actually know anything at all about different forms of karate until recently. I didn't look for a particular style, just for a karate school. They don't seem to advertise their style around here, so I don't know if we even have a kyokushin school in my area. I'll have to check out videos to see the differences.

IMO ... this is a major factor .. you nailed it. Wow really? That's too bad. I haven't experienced anything like that or seen it. Everyone is quite supportive of my karate, including my husband, and everyone I train with is great. We have quite a few excellent black belt ladies including a 3rd degree, so it seems to be a non issue in my dojo. But I could see it depending on the group.

Speaking from a female perspective - I'm not sure if there are fewer kyokushin female practitioners than other forms. I haven't seen enough to tell you if that's just your dojo or if there is something to that. But as to MA in general, probably part of it is the commitment. Family and other things do tend to take over. I personally feel like it may be a bit of an undiscovered secret though - it's such a great de-stressor for me, and I feel as though more women could benefit from that. I've been trying to convince a lot of my friends to give it a try though - no success yet lol. As to getting hit - - personally I am not afraid of pain, just injury. Females are pretty tough. I've gone through childbirth twice, a painful hit doesn't bother me! Honestly I'm a lot more afraid of looking silly that getting hurt, lol. I don't feel ready for full-on sparring, but that just because I don't feel my skills are there yet. You'll be pleased to know I'm one of five women who started at my dojo within the last few months. And we have plenty of young girls as well - which will likely include my daughter in a few months (she is eager to start, we are holding off until another limited-time activity she is doing finishes before starting this commitment). So there you go!

I think they are similar, with fine point differences. And I think you are already improving each with what you are doing! But it's good to make sure you are balanced. I'm sure others will give better explanations, but I think body conditioning is more of a general term, and would include muscle strengthening, etc. Endurance and stamina are harder to distinguish. I think stamina has to do more with how good your cardio ability is, where endurance is more how long you last at something in general. But hopefully someone else will give a better description!

I think this is the same for my dojo. But our fees include the cost of the gi, and our fees are quite reasonable, so it makes sense to me that we get them from our dojo. We do get the crest for our dojo separately (also included in fees) and have to attach them, so I imagine if you had your own gi already or bought another it wouldn't be a problem. But so far I haven't had any issue with the gis I've worn, so it hasn't been a problem.

That's sound really good but how can you do all this if you are working and have kids .... it's bit impossible for me Safroot, the schedule you posted in a different thread is quite good for someone who is working and has kids! I'm in the same boat - - so I have no excuse not to get up to your level. I'm going to go back and take another look at your routine, and see if I can fit in what you do - at least on the days I'm not in the dojo. You have inspired me!

Class last night was so much fun! It started out on a good foot - - a fun warm up that included an obstacle course involving jumping over pads, crawling under things, etc. We did some combinations to work on basics, and those were fun too. With kata work it was the first time I have been able to get all the way through Heian Nidan with no help (several times), I finally know my second kata completely, yay! Now just to work on fine tuning it. We also learned a bunch of new takedowns, and I actually picked them up really quickly, where I usually need to be shown a bunch of times step by step to get the self-defense techniques. And at the end the sensei showed us a good portion of a kata with the tonfa weapons. My very first experience with weapons! He went through slowly and carefully, explaining technique as he went. It was awesome! I don't think we really use weapons as part of the curriculum until higher belts (I'm only yellow), but it was so much fun to get a taste - - and definitely gives me more to look forward to. Most of my classes have lots of variety, I always end up learning something new. But this particular class was just that much more, so I had to share. I knew you all would understand my excitement.

That's sound amazing but I think it needs years of practice to achieve, isn't it?! You will get it later, no rush, the best way to try and train it is to partner, one punches either high or low, you have to match their attack but don't know where it will come. Then try throwing random punches at random times. If you can react to most then you are getting there. Don't worry about laughing, you don't always need to take it seriously, especially when you trip yourself up and land on your backside - don't ask me how I know this.... Lol .... I will train hard till I reach it ... Practice & Training seem to be the magic words of MA I'm happy to put in the hard work for the long run too.

For me I find a lot of it is speed. I remember a lot of the pointers my sensei has given over the last few months in mentioning sparring, and there a lots of great tips here. But in the heat of the moment it is hard to remember anything, and by the time I think of something my opponent is ten steps ahead and it's useless. My movements are slow, my reaction is slow, and my brain is slow! Lots of speeding up to do!!!

Oh man...I can promise you I looked a BIGGER idiot, LOL. Yes, you have company here for sure!!! I felt like a total fool, lol. But at least we can only get better from here!!!

I don't have an answer, but I wanted to say, good question! I'm very curious as well. We do plenty of push-ups, but no pull ups, and I hadn't even thought about it before. I'm not sure if that's due to lack of facilities - - not easy to have something for a class of students to do pull ups - - or if it isn't as useful an exercise. I hope someone knows the answer!

HA, oreo belt. I like that, it gives me a good picture of what it looks like.

Wow, I had no idea what to expect when I checked out that video. That is so cool!!!