Kanku65

Congratulations sensei8! Your inspirational posts and encouraging spirit keep this forum a welcoming place for all martial artists.

From what I understand, shotokan is quite popular in the UK. I don't know about your particular region, but several shotokan karate organizations exist. JKA SKIF ISKF KUGB The list goes on... Check out their regional links, or just google shotokan in your area. Or, place them into another style altogether. I apologize, but I just don't see any benefit with the class time dedicated to training in your children's situation. At my dojo it is... 5 minute warm up. 1 hour, 15 minutes karate training. 5 minute warm down.

In the branch of ISKF (shotokan) I train with we use... Soto uke (coming from outside) a punch variant. Ocho uke (coming from inside) an across body variant. Chudan or jodan, it makes no difference. Same chambering, different target. It's clear these fundamentals have been lost in some cases due to a heavy emphasis on tournament karate training. At a recent seminar with Sensei Yaguchi, he seemed unimpressed and frustrated that he had to correct our ocho uke so many times and made the entire class repeat movements 10-15 of Bassai Dai about 10 times before everyone finally chambered their uke properly. Many people were simply going from chokozuki to ocho uke without any chambering at all. Just simply turning their body and twisting their arm upward... In our organization, this is simply incorrect.

Niseishi or Nijushiho if you've not gone there yet. My Sensei has begun working with me on this kata and I can't get enough of it.

I certainly didn't acquire much, if any knowledge of history or the evolution of MA from this article except where it stated the "parent arts". I feel like a beginner could make use of this if looking to start MA and they have zero idea regarding the differences between all the included arts. But there's certainly not much to be learned in regards to history and evolution from this.

Congratulations on your new location! In a way it sounds like you've been rewarded for the decision you made. I'm not a Sensei, but if if I had been in the same situation, I think my reaction would have been something along the lines of "You want martial arts training? Great! Get in line with the rest of my students." Seriously though.

Where I train everybody says "OSS!" It boosts spirit for sure. I notice however that people as they grow in rank develop the ability to differentiate between using Osu and Hai appropriately. I love the feeling of a uniform "OSS!" echoing through the class. I use "Hai" when called by sensei, or when sensei gives specific instructions, or when he asks a question to which the answer is yes. When paired with a partner I say "Osu", as the article says, "Push on". Also I find one flaw in the article, in the fact that "kiai" is not "spirit yell" but more closely translated as "connection of spirit". Which is the goal of a kiai. It's not simply yelling at your opponent, but connecting everything in your body with your spirit, to connect entirely with your opponent's body and spirit. "spirit yell" or "spirit cry" are huge pet peeves of mine.

Best of luck to you! My bit of advice may be hard considering it is an MMA match, but think and train defensively when applying karate. Force your opponent to feel as if they are making mistakes by advancing on you. Not force them to THINK it, force them to FEEL it, to KNOW it. Turn everything they do into their mistake, but be humble and assume every strike they throw is a knockout/killing blow. Perhaps watch videos of other fighters with karate backgrounds, such as GSP and Machida. Understand that I have watched many MMA fights, but have no actual experience, and therefore know absolutely nothing about what actually goes on in a match in regards to pressure felt.

Good to know! I wound up going with a single weave judo gi from Mikado for just over $100. I saw a handful of the students at the dojo wearing the brand, and it's a company whose products I've trusted throughout my karate training. I considered purchasing the double weave gi, but it was an entire $100 more, and the store employee advised against it as a novice student.

I've used something similar. Only during outside of dojo sparring with friends. I wore them under a pair of skinny style sweatpants nicely. Fitting them under a normal loose gi should be no problem at all. I preferred wearing them under because they gripped my leg hair and skin nicely so they didn't like, slide around and stuff. lol. They didn't really pinch though. Just held better to my skin than to my pants.

Is it uncommon to wear gi pants under the hakama? It appears most students at the dojo I've looked at train without the hakama. It appears that the more senior students and instructor only wear the hakama, and they appear to be wearing gi pants beneath. And thank you for your input.

Hello KF I am wondering what style of gi would be most appropriate for aikido training. eg. judo gi, jiu jitsu gi, heavy karate gi? I'm not looking for brand specifics here, just style, and what the gi is meant for. Thank you.

Bottom line, this would make me very uncomfortable. I've never trained under anyone below the age of 30. I think 20 is an adequate age for a MA instructor, but certainly under no circumstances a CI! I feel that a CI should have that... "been around the block" edge to them. Something which can only be developed with age and ACTUAL experience. I'd trust a 16 year old to babysit my kids, but to oversee mine and their abilities as a martial artist? It's almost a cruel thought. I can in no way doubt this young gentleman's abilities as a martial artist, but in all ways I do doubt his abilities as a CI. Sadly.

So, this post really did get me interested in just how many MA schools are open within my city. ... In a city of 76,000... We have 38 individual schools listed on google.

Primarily the long deep stances are for development. Learning the hard way in a sense. And as Sensei8 said, if you watch JKA style kumite, participants stay in a short relaxed stance, until the right moment when they shift into a deep stance for nice power generation. Youtube has some incredible JKA kumite videos BTW.

I think the ordinary, untrained person's perception of somebody with calloused knuckles and bruised hands is "anger issues", or "violent individual", to be absolutely honest, you know? It's a completely unfair allegation, but having conditioned hands just isn't really the societal norm. Then again, I've seen various tradesmen whose knuckles have similar appearance to a MAist, but the conditioning is all from lifelong trades work. Anyways, I have not had a similar experience. My hands are unfortunately free of scars/callouses/bruises. I've trained my body to be well conditioned, but my hands have been neglected due to lack of resources. My advice is to ignore anyone who you feel places their judgement upon you. With a complete lack of arrogance, remember that the conditioning which they judge could someday save your life, or even theirs. And they by no means need or have the right to know that.

On my 8 minute drive to the dojo, I pass by 2. If I took the 12 minute alternate parallel route however, it would be 4, maybe 5. That's about half of what's in the city. The other's including mine are off the beaten path. When I go to our regional headquarters, 3 cities and 35 minutes away, I pass by an incredible amount. In fact, there are 4 on the same strip as our regional headquarters, one next door to the other, etc. Perhaps there's no rule to distance in this city, or perhaps all dojos have existed so long that it's been made irrelevant. I've found similar clustering in the city 25 minutes east from my house as well. In this area you pass by so many dojos at such a rapid rate, it's hard to keep count/track of different styles. The lower mainland of British Columbia has an incredible amount of martial arts schools...

I've seen both. Even both within the same organization. 50/50 actually to be fair. We follow the ways of our regional headquarters, which is looking towards front, highest ranking going from left to right.

Hard to say without seeing the movement. Don't rise up when you reach the centre point. Keep your centre of gravity low that way your weight doesn't shift up and back down again, it just transitions forward in a smooth motion. What I mean to say, is stay level. Instead of stepping forward, glide forward like you're ice skating or roller blading.

I wear it for the students at the right side of the room. "If you're confused, don't look around you. Look at the senior belts to the far left." -Something my sensei says very often, as he walks around correcting technique. This I believe to be the most important aspect of a ranking system. Senior belts are (or should be and in most cases are) somebody the junior belts can look to to observe technical precision whilst sensei moves through the crowd giving individual attention. They need people to look to, and they must be able to tell at a quick glance who they SHOULD BE looking to. (purple, brown, black belts). So, I wear it for the junior belts. So they have somebody they can look to for technical precision, as well as somebody else to ask questions to if sensei and all other senpai are busy. A guideline, and (hopefully) a role model.

I found this on reddit today, and I believe it holds some solid validity in this discussion. Although I believe hard work is necessary in the martial arts, there needs to be that uninterupted, unclouded balance which can in many cases be too overshadowed by the desire to reach goals and attain a particular rank. Not that I look down in any way upon those who receive kuro obi after 5 years, but I do believe that 10 years is an appropriate time to reach shodan. There may be personal bias in that belief however.

Excellent video, looking forward to your upcoming posts!

I'm still shocked that parachute pants have made a comeback, as cool as the new fashionable ones are. But yeah, gi pants could possibly work... NOTHING cooler than going shirtless with gi pants pulled above your belly button. So I'd have to wear them looser, lower, and limit my activities for the day accordingly. (Call it the 3 L's of gi pant etiquette.) Actually, the only thing probably cooler than wearing gi pants pulled above your belly button, is going to a coffee shop, BBQ joint, or pub wearing gi pants, and then not being able to get the correlating stains out. Also, the gi pants would have to be at a far lower price than the ones I wear for training, like really far lower... Although I don't think it's for me, I do like your idea!

Incredible story! You shall receive no judgement from me. I for one never really desired my next belts... Of course I'd always wanted black belt, but I never wanted to rush it. I don't rush anything. Except for overdue term papers... I graded when I was told to grade. I didn't strive for the rank, I just tried a little harder everyday. I wanted to be good at karate, and still hope to be someday. I didn't care what colour my belt was. When I received shodan I really cared a lot though. Now, as a new shodan, I see some karateka who hold lower ranks outperforming black belts, including myself at times. This is FINE. Their ability to outperform is not reflective of anyone but their own abilities. I made it through the ranks and am performing at shodan level. Just because their technique is sharper, does not mean they are more knowledgeable, or could defend themselves easier, or are more respectful to others. We must only work on ourselves, and not pay attention to those around us, for this can be most discouraging. "First know yourself, then know others." This also means I have potential to grow. This is the ultimate aim, to always grow as a MAist and a person. Perhaps if a 4th kyu is performing at shodan level, they have less potential to grow, or will grow slower. I for one hope to never hit a bad plateau like I did in my teens... Luther unleashed, your signature sums up much of what I believe in.

About $1000 a year. That includes monthly dues, insurance fees, grading fees, belt costs and seminars. Plus, we train year round aside from holidays, and 2 weeks for Christmas/New Years.