1stDan

Yes, I sometimes train in other places. The key is to find somewhere where you will not be a "spectacle". I have been stopped and stared at by people before - if you are good, people will always find your practice to be interesting. However, it is not nice to be stared at. I like to find peaceful places in which I know that I will not be bothered. Usually it is not a long practice, maybe 10 - 20 minutes tops. My 2 places are: 1. the beach (a sandy beach) 2. my living room, which is too small for kata but I can still practice form and kihon.

Well... rather surprisingly I just finished my first "training" session. It turned out to be a McDojo. They hand out black belts like hamburgers. The class was all wow'ed by my skills. I need work. Anyone who is worth their salt can see that my left side mawashi geri's are much poorer than my right. Anyone can see I've forgotten a few techniques and katas. They didn't care. I was told I can sit the Nidan test this year if I feel ready. (What?!) What a smack in the face!!! Insult to the real BB community. Looks like I will be finding a new club. (One that actually conducts a proper warm up too) Kind of irritates me that places like this exist. Fakes teaching fakes. Nobody in the class was any good, even the instructor. He would not spar with me... not stroking the ego, but it was obvious why he didn't want to.

Thanks all for the input. However, the Sensei has insisted that I do not ditch my BB just because I think I could be out of practice. He believes that once you have earned your right to wear a BB, you have earned it - however upon returning to training it is then my responsibility to work 10x harder to return to my former glory and be a good representation of my grade. Putting a white belt on, although humble, is slightly insulting to your prior effort and knowledge. - His words, not mine. Not to mention, it's not all about the piece of fabric around your waist, it's about what's inside, what you have achieved and what you are, where you are in the journey. If you were a beginner 10 years ago, then you are not a beginner today. I will heed his words and dedicate myself 110%

Here's a random question for you all: Say you were awarded a black belt by the JKA or KUGB, both governing bodies for karate in the UK. And you moved to another country to train with ISKF-related club in the SAME style - could you still go for 2nd Dan when you feel you're ready? Or do you have to do it all from scratch again with this new governing body? What if you don't have any certificates or evidence from the original institution of your current rank (got lost due to excessive relocations)? What then? Are you stuck a 1st Dan forever? Or would they let you take the test without your paper proof??? I'm curious.

Yes, I was thinking of something similar. I'm not sure that going all the way back up through the ranks, which originally took me 4 plus years, would really be entirely necessary, not to mention a huge cost in gradings! I'm not even sure if we will be here for more than 2 years. However, I am wondering whether he will allow me to adopt a white belt for several months and train my way through the ranks. Maybe using "internal" gradings to assess my progress and allow me to wear my black when he believes I have earned it...?

Couple years ago I relocated country (yes, big change!) and thought I would be temporarily be putting a pause on my Shotokan training. Being a new shodan at the time, I figured I could just pick karate back up again when life "settled" a bit. Well, a further 2-3 years have passed and only now is life calm enough to really pick it back up again. We just moved (again) across the country to the East coast U.S. where we have been for a few months and plan to stay in the area for a good while. I have retained an acceptable fitness level with twice weekly jogging and twice weekly weight training, and am currently working on my flexibility to try and get it to former standards. So I figured I should find a good club to train at. I immediately found a karate club with a very nice, down to earth instructor. However, the club is Shito-Ryu, not Shotokan. I'm not picky about styles and the sensei seems spot on. From our conversation, it sounded like he is going to honour my black belt in his club, but I did explain that I have forgotten a huge amount of katas (most of them!) and although I am in reasonable shape, my technique needs a lot of work and I am going to feel like a total fraud of a 1st Dan for a little while until I can get back up to speed! I am joining in my first class on Monday, plain clothes, then again Thurs in gi with belt. What can I do to help myself not look like an idiot?! I was thinking of humbly asking to join the lower grades for a short while and work my way through the syllabus from scratch until I remember everything. I just don't know if there's any way I could join in with the brown and black belt training without looking like a complete turd at this point. Maybe this is just me being paranoid? What would you do? Thanks for any constructive responses!