Kanku65

I for one believe this to be an awful policy. No offence. My one bit of advice is, accidents happen. Period. Learn to hold yourself accountable for your partner's mistakes. Don't allow blind rage to get the best of you, especially in a training situation where you are in a group setting and everyone is trying their best to learn. It's a hard concept to grasp I suppose but, your partner kicking you below the belt can just as easily be your mistake as much as theirs. However, if you lose control and nail them full force in the testicles BECAUSE they made a mistake which could have been your fault, then that's on you. Period. And if that's what your instructor promotes, then I hope for his/her sake they have the highest of insurance policies. No cup, I've taken about 5 shots to the groin area in the past 2 years, most with good control, some with none, but my immediate instinct was never to injure my partners/opponents. (I've gotta buy a cup...) Actually, it was to roll around crying hysterically, kicking and screaming, which I also most thankfully avoided doing.

Very wise. My sensei practices tai chi. Often he makes us do kata at "tai chi speed." Too much speed in kata is also a pet peeve of mine. At a recent grading I witnessed 2 brown belts side by side for the grading. One executing Kanku dai(65 moves), the other executing Jion(47 moves). The one doing kanku dai finished about 30 seconds before the one doing jion. It was very nice kanku, but it was far too fast. Everything was blended and hard to recognize technical precision.

ISKF Shotokan Karate 1997-2005 ISKF Shotokan Karate 2012-2...

Interesting! This brings to my mind the promotion of sensei Nakayama from 9th dan to 10th dan after his passing. I by all means believe he was deserving of the rank, but I've often wondered how he himself would have felt about such a promotion.

Amen! Or, I mean, Osu! Whatever the origin, whatever the true meaning, it's hard to deny how uplifted a class becomes when you've got 10, 20, 30, 50+ Karateka shouting "OSU!" in unison. I find that it promotes positive spirit in the training grounds.

This is essentially the reasoning presented to me. "All your hard work will wash off with the dirt." There are many arguments out there about how unsafe this practice is healthwise, but I practice shotokan karate, where we don't practice a lot of grappling. If I practiced judo or BJJ or even an Okinawan style of karate, the story may be different. But, it's indescribably uncommon for anyone to come into contact with my belt. I follow the ways of my sensei(s) as closely as possible.

Either "Hai" or "Osu" are accepted where I train. Osu seems to be a widely accepted term in Shotokan. In fact, at recent seminars with Sensei Yaguchi I felt as if he were giving me funny looks everytime I said "Hai!" in a crowd of people shouting mostly "Osu!", so I got with the program real quick.

Tonight I myself experienced a 'lack of control experience.' We were doing partner work at a seminar, I was paired with a brown belt just a couple years younger than me who I'd never met. The combination was stepping forward jodan oi zuki, opponent blocked age uke, then stepped forward chudan oi zuki, initial attacker then stepped back doing geidan barrai, gyaku zuki. During gyaku zuki, my partner planted his fist into my ribs 3 times so hard that it was to the point I could feel sharp pain in my liver and solar plexus. He appologized everytime, and realized his own lack of control, but still allowed it to happen 3 times. When it came my turn to do gyaku zuki, I never made contact with him. I hit his gi, and my fist landed just against his solar plexus everytime. He began wincing everytime I threw gyaku zuki however. Towards the end I wound up accidentally stepping on his toe and he acted as if he were in a ton of pain. One of the blackbelts who supervise and make adjustments, walked over to me and sternly told me that I had to stop trying to injure my opponent. I was quite embarrassed at this point, and it will probably go down as one of my most frustrating moments in martial arts. Later the student apologized to me several times, which I was happy about, but what's an apology worth if he had broken my ribs 2 days before my shodan grading? Perhaps I should have embellished my pain more? Drawn the attention of the black belts, but I've been taught to always show "face of the moon." I also do prefer some solid contact, but this was definitely too much, especially on a gyaku zuki we weren't meant to defend ourselves on.

I believe in almost all of Funakoshi's writings. I say almost because it would be dangerous to follow anything so blindly. I also remember reading a quote of Funakoshi's which stated his regret for much of the writings from his younger years. He didn't go into specifics, but this clearly demonstrates the realization of his own growth over time. The particular quote you've chosen I feel is important and true. My Sensei uses it often while teaching.

As a child I was put into karate because both my father and uncle practiced. I took a huge liking to it. I hated it during my teenage years, and actually took a couple years off, but have since returned to the same organization/dojo. My passion for karate is now rich. I make massive sacrifices for it, for myself. I practice for... -Spirituality -Physical health benefits -Mental health benefits -Self/others defense -In hopes of continuing the passage of knowledge along someday. For me, rank and achievement are not my primary goals. My goals are to do better in everything everyday. Constant endeavorment. Thus is karate-do. I have put in 10 years of training, and in 10 days I go for my first shodan exam. Although rank is not my primary concern, this will be an important day.

Where I train, we abide by dojo kun. We put a strong emphasis on "endeavor" which is printed on almost all our dojo apparel. I'd say that is our slogan. Endeavor is a word which can be applied to all aspects of life, just as karate can. In fact the entire dojo kun can be applied to everyday life, it just depends on how we choose to bare it. We also train out of a church sanctuary where they print a different passage from the bible on a blackboard every month. I am not a religious person by any stand, but I do appreciate religion of all kinds. I have always respected diversity, however diversity is a curious marvel which I may not have developed SUCH an appreciation for without the guidance of karate. Every aspect of the dojo kun is in fact exemplary of the term endeavor.

The same goes for shotokan as well. The area I've highlighted is something that is often forgotten by instructors, and many practitioners go without ever learning. Unfortunately I'm unclear on the history of age uke, but any instructor who takes their time teaching and breaking down uke techniques is in my opinion worth listening to. Too many get caught up in the idea of just 'blocking, blocking, always blocking' when the realities of uke techniques are incredibly vast in detail. They are not simply blocking movements, but instead latent with hidden traps, locks, bars, and takedowns, which can be most easily applied AS blocking movements.

Have you done much research on what schools are in/around your area?

Well put. Thank you for the literature recommendation, I will make sure to archive this title. At this time my reading list feels nearly impossible to complete so it will unfortunately take a back seat for the time being, but it won't go forgotten. In the end, I believe this to be a matter of a traditional vs. modernized approach to karate. Clearly both approaches work. To reach a decision of which approach is of the highest benefit could be argued for a very long time to reach a most unclear conclusion, a conclusion I honestly have no true interest in. I as well as many others before me have found success in the shotokan syllabus, just as you and others before you have found success in your syllabus. I believe your methods to be without question far more traditional than the shotokan syllabus which I have been taught, but I also believe both ways produce equal outcome.

I believe my sensei trained in shotokan until brown belt and then left and began kickboxing. His kickboxing record was modestly put, impressive. Later he continued his karate training after realizing that kickboxing is not as lifelong as karate training. Try kickboxing and see how it suits you and your lifestyle.

This is in no way absolute, but an idea I've developed over my time reading this thread. Yes, Kanku-dai can be the fighting system itself. It teaches you to do technique X followed by A and Y technique followed by A However, the benefit of learning the Heian series first could be that you learn to do X followed by B, then X followed by C, X followed by D, etc. In a sense, a very linear sense at least, learning the Heians first allows you to understand the options which are rich within Kanku-dai. Before learning Kanku-dai itself to prevent one from developing a linear set of techniques, and gain an understanding that no matter how hard you train at 1 form, that form alone cannot provide you with the proper knowledge to protect yourself without understanding that you can do BCDEFG after X, and not just A. The heian katas are to Kanku-dai as the basics are to Heian shodan. One does not get to learn Heian shodan before learning geidan barrai. (This of course differs system to system, teacher to teacher)

All answers above are great. Yes, it is a pro, but don't ever join a dojo based on # of champions alone.

Thank you so much for sharing Silat is a very unique style I wish I knew more about. It is my favourite MA to watch videos of.

We offer 3 classes 2 nights a week. Kids all levels Family all levels Advanced all levels These run consecutively 45 minutes each. Kids class is reserved for people 4-11. ( I believe.) Family class, everyone is welcome. Advanced class is typically 12 and up. Kids are more than welcome to train if they demonstrate a strong enough understanding in basics, sound maturity level, and last but not least, desire to not only train, but to LEARN. Typically 12 and up, but on occasion we have students as young as 10 train in the advanced class. People who train in the advanced class are expected to normally train in the family class as well. I love the benefits of all levels training. It's the way I've trained my entire life, and I strongly feel that the presence of lower ranked students in the advanced class in no way compromise the advancement of higher ranked students.

My father is a severe armchair instructor Him and I are the same rank, but he has not trained in about 9 years. Anytime he happens to see me practice/grade/compete, he has loads to say about improving. I always listen carefully, he is my father after all, and at one time out ranked me by a longshot. However, in many cases new rules or ideas/going back to old rules and ideas have been implemented into our curriculum which I must follow in order to be successful in my practice of karate. I listen politely, and acknowledge his words always, but ultimately disregard all of what he says. My sensei keeps a very close eye on me and the other students, and lets us get away with nothing. No slopiness/laziness is permitted under his guidance, we must push ourselves always to his standards at least, and our standards of ourselves are expected to be even greater than his. The senior senpai has drilled it into my brain on several occasions that sensei is the only one I am to listen to in regards of improvement. Learn from senior belts always, but do not change your karate based upon their observations alone. Sensei and Shihan know best always, and trust yourself before the words of others. If I am ever asked by a junior student for assistance with a technique or kata, although I have read...more than I can quantify about karate, I only EVER use the how's and why's of what OUR sensei has TAUGHT ME about said technique or kata. Sensei does and always will know more than I do about karate, and he has chosen specific points to teach for a very good reason.

I hadn't been acquainted with this bit of information. Thank you for sharing! I love the variety of concepts Bassai can cover in accordance with it's fundamentals and bunkai!

This concept! When I first learned this 10 years ago, I was taught that the main idea behind the kata was strength. "BREAKING DOWN THE FORTRESS." Now, I practice it as simply, "entering the fortress." The idea is switching from a disadvantageous position, to an advantageous one. The concept is not so much, breaking down the fortress, but entering it. One man cannot defeat a fortress from the outside, but once on the inside, he may do what he wishes so long as he has acquired the proper skills. The idea of entering the fortress should not only refer to the opening movement, but as well to the entirety of techniques executed within the kata. Sure you've entered the fortress, but now you have the million enemies on the inside running at you. Therefore, the switching from disadvantage to advantage is constant! you're constantly changing directions, moving forwards and backwards. You have no choice! On the outside of the fortress, you're at a disadvantage. On the inside you're at an advantage. When an opponent attacks, you're at a disadvantage, so you must be swift to switch yourself constantly to gain the advantage. There are 10 blocks in Bassai dai before throwing the first "strike". This is of course entirely debatable, but it's how I've been taught. Other than this, my favourite bunkai motivators are also in OP's description of heian yondan. My sensei refers to that series of movements as "I don't want to play anymore." A most innocent name for one of the most balls to the walls merciless series of movements found in kata. Also, heian godan, switching from shuto gedan to manji. "In the old days we were taught that we were ripping a man's balls off then holding them above our head for them to see. Use this feeling." Yes sensei. Sorry for the long post

So much truth. In Shotokan kata, we block going forward ONLY about 85% of the time. Our blocks lead into deflections which are followed by strikes. One does not survive to strike if they do not deflect the attack, one does not survive to deflect the attack if they do not first cover and move their center line. One never allows an opponent to strike them. We must always assume and BELIEVE that our opponent is AT LEAST better than us in EVERY martial way. Sensei has provided me with accounts of himself warding off attackers with nothing but moving backwards using outside forearm block and rising block. 85% of blocks going forward means 15% of blocks moving backward. (when I say forward and backward, I take into account forward and backward angled movements as well.) Blocking while moving backwards would be exempt from kata if it were useless. That being said, moving backwards in every case should only ever be tactical, and not just because it's what comes naturally. If you're going to move backwards, make sure that you have decided to go backwards for good reason, and have trained accordingly.

Diet can be a very important thing for any physical activity. In all honesty, a good diet can benefit everyone in every aspect of their life, whether it be work, physical health, or mental health. My diet is complete garbage! Some days I over eat, some days I under eat. No day is ever the same, and yet I remain in what I consider to be above average physical condition. Often I wonder about the benefits of implementing a solid diet plan to my lifestyle and the positive effects which it would have upon my life. My lifestyle is brutally fast-paced however, going to university 4 days a week and working 3, and I fear that placing a strict diet plan within it would run me into the ground. It's a most unfortunate thing to be driven to a life of convenience. Despite being physically fit, my poor diet has lead to a lack of alertness in my life. This is no good. It makes me feel awful when I want to take a nap halfway through 2nd class, or before lunchtime at work. Don't be like me. Eat as healthy as possible, feel good always!

In shotokan, more specifically ISKF, we currently have a curriculum of up to 26, perhaps more kata. 26 which I am aware of. In the past, we had what is reffered to as "the original 15" which are 5 Heian 3 Tekki Bassi dai Kanku dai Jion Empi Hangetsu Jitte Gankaku (As well as the taikyoku and ten no series which many dojos and organizations have let go of completely) In your personal opinion, in your own style/organization, which kata or group of kata, no matter how big or small make up the fundamentals of your practiced style? Which kata describe the basic most core? Which kata in your practiced style give pace to your own individual style? In my opinion, shotokan's core can be found in... Heian shodan Tekki shodan Bassai dai Kanku dai Jion All the basics that are trained on a regular basis can be found within those kata, they are in my opinion the bare necessities of shotokan karate. This does not by any means take credit away from the other "original 15", it just means that shotokan would not be the same without the basics found within those 5 kata. My personal favourites are, the 5 Heian. I am an absolute lover of the Heian series and I will practice at least 2 to warm up before beginning every training session. Kanku dai, because it is exhausting, and it always feels like a complete workout for me when executed with the utmost intention. Tekki shodan, because my kiba dachi sucks, and it challenges me appropriately. Empi because it suits my slim, short, swift body perfectly.