JR 137

Welcome to the forum, Hameed. Your questions all depend on your instructor. He/she is the one who tests you and knows your ability level. It's not that uncommon to double promote the first time in some styles/schools. My CI often skips the second belt and double promotes adult students. Our curriculum goes from white belt to advanced white to blue. The white and advanced white belt curriculums don't have much difference between them, with advanced white having 1 more kata* and one or two other standardized things. Rather than test them for advanced white then test them again 2 months later, he usually waits and just tests them for blue belt when the student is ready. *The white belt is taikyoku 1 and advanced white is taikyoku 2. The only difference between them is taikyoku 1 has all middle punches and taikyoku 2 has all high punches; same blocks, steps, etc. At the lowest kyu levels there's not much material to learn, and it's about getting used to moving in stances, and basic blocks, punches and kicks. Some students pick up on these very quickly while others don't. Just as it's wrong to promote someone who's not yet ready, it's also wrong to hold someone back who's grasped the concepts and has demonstrated that they're ready to move forward. Long story short, your teacher determines your promotion and how and why it's earned. We'll all be guessing at the how and why.

Welcome aboard

Welcome to KF. It's nearly impossible to get a full history of karate out of a single book. With so many styles and "founders," just about every style could write a book on the history of their school and lineage. The book(s) that is considered by many to be THE authority on karate's history is Bubishi by Patrick McCarthy. There are several versions/editions. Somewhere in a box I have Bubishi: The Bible of Karate. There is a great section dedicated to the the history of several Okinawan styles, traced back to China. There are other historical things in there too. There's been an update or two to it since I bought it about 20 years ago. Haven't seen the new one, so I can't vouche for it. Mas Oyama's books are great. Just be prepared to pay quite a sum for What is Karate?, This is Karate, and Advanced Karate. They're the holy trinity of kyokushin books.

Admittedly I've never thrown a crescent kick against an actual attacker. The only kick I've thrown are very low roundhouse kicks to the side of the lower leg as a modified sweep. Worked as intended all 3 or 4 times I've done it - cause enough pain to lose the will to fight and get them off their feet. It was always in conjunction with a few punches. I don't think any of those guys were 100% committed to fight, but were getting physical to save face. I've thrown the inside-out crescent kick a ton of times against friends and my brothers that were "fooling around" thinking karate doesn't work. Never actually hit them with it, as I pulled it down after they saw it a few inches away from their face. What was the reaction every single time? Dropping their hands thinking I was going to front kick them in the stomach. There were a few times when I threw it multiple times in a row, and they laughed because they couldn't stop themselves from trying to block it low. Those times were all at close range, not in a typical dojo dancing range. None of them had any MA experience. Just about all have been in actual fights. A few were even guys I've wrestled with in high school. It should work fine so long as it's not telegraphed, not expected, and it's been trained with real intent and power behind it. But in all honesty, what won't work under those circumstances? I say should work, because I've never actually used it. If I'm ever in a situation again where I need to defend myself, I'm not going to look for it specifically, but if the situation calls for it, it's there. Being 40 and not frequenting places and situations where there's commonly trouble, I doubt I'll have to use it. And thankfully so.

The crescent kick is like any other kick - it has to be practiced. And not just against the air. When I first started hitting a heavy bag with it, it was my weakest kick. The hook kick wasn't far behind. After a few weeks of really putting in effort with it it became pretty strong. Strong enough to not hesitate using it. If all you punch is the air and some pads or mitts, you're not going to develop any realistic stopping power. Kicks aren't any different.

In all of this stuff, I'm forced to use my father's analogy (he's a self employed mechanic)... Use the tool for the job; a great tool is useless if you're not using it right. There's not much point in punching the skull. The skull is too hard. But there's a great point to punch the side of the jaw, under the eyes, and the nose. Thrown correctly, an elbow will inflict far more damage to a skull (side of the head) and less damage to yourself. IMO the elbow's a better tool for the job. But that tool isn't always available either. Trade off is you've got to get closer. A well conditioned spear hand is a better tool for the spleen or liver than a punch. But that well conditioned tool may not exist for you (it doesn't exist for me either). People like the instep or even ball of the foot for a roundhouse. I think a shin is far better - far more rigid with less give than the instep and ankle it's connected to. But you give up some range. Use the best tool. But if you think about it at the moment of truth, you won't have the chance. Make the tool muscle memory. Make the tool selection an unconscious thought (mu shin). How do you do that? Practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more.

The K-11 is $185 from Shureido USA. Some online places have it cheaper, but after tax (if applicable) and shipping it's about the same price. Expensive, but worth it IMO. I haven't had it long enough to say it's yellow resistant or not.

Such a fun topic Sweat by itself will cause yellowing. I get it on the inside of the collar on my white dress shirts. It's also on the inside collar of my gi. It just takes significantly longer to show up and it's not nearly as bad. Armpits have different sweat glands, resulting in a different sweat composition (different chemicals in the sweat). Those react with deodorant and detergent and cause a stain that's worse and harder to get rid of. Yellowing on the collar and places like the elastic section of a sports bra is most likely due to those areas rubbing against the body and scrubbing the sweat deeper into the fabric. If someone routinely wore deodorant on those areas I'd imagine the sweat stains would be almost as bad as armpit stains. I think gis, particularly heavyweight gis, are more prone to the stains because of the rough texture of the canvas material. My old Shureido K-10 never showed the stains. The initial blue tint they have is from what a dry cleaner told me was ultraviolet brighter. I guess most clothing companies use it in white cloth, but Shureido (and the others that get that blue tint after the first washing that goes away after several more washings) uses a lot more of it. Every gi I owned showed the armpit stains within a few months, and got pretty bad after a year or so of continuous wear. I wore my K-10 for about 4 years, 3-4 nights a week and never had the problem. Not sure if it was coincidence or not, but it's a big reason why I bought my Shureido K-11.

I've been told by a dry cleaner that the yellowing is due to deodorant reacting with detergent or stuff in the water. According to him, nothing takes it out.

Congratulations to the nominees and best of luck.

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to the martial arts.

I've owned Century 12 oz., KI 14 oz., and Ronin 12 oz. IMO Ronin is easily the best quality gi of those. Ronin's jacket is a bit longer than KI's, but not a lot. Century's is the shortest. Ronin's material and craftsmanship IMO is the best of the bunch. And I love their ties. By far the best I've seen and used in any gi, that includes Shureido (I own a K-11 and used to own a K-12), and Tokaido's Ultimate (a good friend wore one). Several people I train with own KI Mugen Orange and Black. They don't appear any better than the Ronin. They're cut differently, seemingly more narrow cut but maybe a tad longer jacket, but they don't seem to be much longer. The Ronin 12 oz. is really tough to beat for the money. My Shureido is significantly better, but at $75 vs $175, the Ronin is a no-brainer IMO. If you've got the cash, the Shureido is worth it, if not, Ronin. Just my opinion.

Re-reading Luther's posts, it seems the school is looking for him to issue something - anything - tangible for the students to take away at the end of the semester. Nothing wrong with that IMO. Give the kids something to motivate them, keep their interest, and give them a sense of accomplishment and pride. I like the idea. Whatever keeps them going and keeps them out of trouble. I don't like the idea of trophies without competition. I'd go with the belt scheme I posted, certificates of attendance, an/or a medal of some sort. My daughters take gymnastics, and they love the medal they get at the end of the session. They're 3 and 6, so take that for what it's worth. And no, Lex, you're not overthinking it. The kids haven't "been there, done that" like we have. It may seem like they think getting a certificate or medal is a joke, but it's really not. Doing the right things will keep them motivated and show them you care. Doing nothing nor something half-butted won't do anyone any good.

A lot of good opinions here. There's a guy at my school (academic school) who runs a TKD club (grades K-8, but the oldest ones are about 3rd grade) once or twice a week. Here's what he does, if it helps. I think he's on the right track, but I'd tweak it a bit. I don't think he's a good teacher, but this part's done ok... The students start at a plain white belt. They earn strips of electrical tape on their belt for different things - kicks, blocks, stances, punches, parts of kata, etc. It seems like about 6 or so stripes. When they promote, they get a white belt with a color stripe through it i.e. a white belt with a yellow stripe that runs the entire length of the belt. All belts are like this. If they promote passed all those belts, then it's a solid belt, starting with the belt color after white (yellow?). Students go at their wn pace through the tests. Students who want to train at his full-time school wear the belt they earned at my school while being evaluated for which belt they'll wear at the full-time school. He explains the differences in his program at my school and his to the parents through a letter. The requirements for solid belt are the same at both schools, but the pace and how it's broken down through the mini belts (don't know what else to call them) are slower/smaller. Just some ideas.

At my dojo we have 3 yondans that were promoted together. They started training around the same time, with only a few months separating each of them. They line up now as they always have, every time - by when they started. When the first one came in as a white belt, he was at the far left of the line. When the next one started a month or so later, he lined up on the far left. When the third started a week later, he was at the far left. 20 odd years later, the line has shifted but they still line up where they have since day one (relative to each other). Same goes for all ranks within the dojo. When visiting honbu for an event or class it generally goes by apparent age, otherwise it would take quite some time for everyone to ask who's been around longer or spent more time in rank. Within our dojo is where things can get a bit complicated. We line up by dan/kyu grade. Within each grade, we line up by time in grade. But adults line up ahead of juniors per grade. So, if I'm a 4th kyu adult, I line up behind all 3rd kyus. If a 3rd kyu junior was promoted 6 months ago, and I promoted to 3rd yesterday, I line up ahead of the 3rd kyu junior. We're both 3rd kyus, but I'm an adult. When the 3rd kyu junior gets promoted to 2nd kyu, he/she will line up ahead of me (he/she'll be a 2nd kyu). There was a group of juniors who all started before me and were higher grades than me. Over the course of time, I caught up to them. I lined up behind them, as they were in rank 3 months longer than I was. My CI told us that I line up ahead of them because I'm an adult. We didn't realize the policy, nor did anyone make any issue of it. If everyone promotes when they're supposed to, they'll promote ahead of me, and will then line up ahead of me. Then I'll promote 3 months later and we'll flip-flop in line again. 2 adults equal in rank will line up by time in grade. If time is equal, then by start date. If they started the same day, then wherever they lined up on the first day. Here's another curveball - a junior 2nd kyu lines up ahead of an adult 3rd kyu. Said junior is promoted to adult 3rd kyu (he/she becomes adult age), and now lines up behind the initial adult 3rd kyu. Why? Time in current grade. It just happened a few weeks ago in my dojo.

Best of luck with everything, Sensei. I'm rooting for you. Almost 20 lbs in less than a month is fantastic. Keep at it. Pepsi is my Achilles heel. Way too many worthless calories. Seeing a nutritionist is a great step. A suggestion if I may... Interval training. Rather than lower intensity for long duration, it's short bursts of high intensity followed by longer bursts of lower intensity. Think 1 minute hard work, 3 minutes of light work, alternated for say 25 minutes. Just about all the latest research in exercise physiology finds interval training far more effective in all the positives - fat loss, BP, etc. than anything else. The only clefts will argue over the times of high intensity and low intensity, but there's no real difference IMO, just find times that work for you. I miss hitting a bag several times a week. Work and family commitment schedule changed. Perhaps go several rounds with the bag every other day? 2 minute rounds with 2 minutes rest for however many rounds you reasonably can. Last thing (for now), consistently read about healthy stuff. Men's Health Magazine is a great resource. A lot of highly respected people in their, well, respective fields contribute to it. And they do a great job of getting their point across clearly without getting too technical. Research shows consistently reading about healthy diet and lifestyle will keep you on track far better. Just some thoughts. The key is small and incremental lifestyle changes, not drastic and unsustainable changes. And again, I'm rooting for you!

Congratulations!

I was going to suggest Enshin in Denver until I read that you were training there. Kancho Joko Ninomiya is a legend. I've seen a ton of his stuff and read a few of his books. Just my way of saying I'm jealous.

My CI likes to make Saturday morning's adults class a kumite-heavy class, emphasizing one-step kumite, kihon kumite, yakusoku kumite, and letting it all flow into free-sparring (jiyu kumite?). We warm up with some kihon and kata, but there's far more kumite than most other classes. There's 2 juniors who are invited into the adults' class. They're 4th kyu+, work hard, and skill-wise are capable of hanging with the adults. They're about 12 and 14 years old. I've been telling them to get closer to me and into a range that takes away my kicking and punching. Telling them to "get inside, then get out." Telling them to hit me when I'm defenseless during kicks and punches - ie when I'm recovering from throwing a roundhouse kick or over-swung a punch. Today, they actually did it. And before I had a chance to tell them to. One kid hit me at the right time, every single time. Every roundhouse was followed by 3-4 punches in my ribs. Every missed and/or blocked punch was countered with a kick or punches to my stomach. I thought he got lucky the first few times. Then I realized he finally started listening. The other kid stayed outside and made me chase her. Then she moved forward as she blocked/deflected, and jumped outside and off line. I thought she got lucky the first few times too. After about 4-5 times in a row, I realized she was listening too. I've been doing those things to them and telling them to do them back to me. Walking off the floor, my CI chuckled and said to me "they finally started listening." My ribs are sore right now, but I've got too much pride to put ice on them. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

While my dojo doesn't follow these rules when we're outside the dojo (or even inside during "social events"), these are things I've seen in Japanese friends of mine. It's what I've observed when they're around family or in a professional setting, so to speak. Growing up in a traditional Armenian family on one side, and an Italian family on the other, this is more or less the way I was raised. Substitute head of the table for center of the table, and eliminate the standing up when someone comes to the table, and keeping their glass full, and you've got how we did (and more or less still do) things. We don't start eating until everyone's been served, you don't generally leave the table until everyone's done, etc. Most of my non-ethnic friends' families did and do the same. Everyone has different customs. I think it's not something that should be forced onto people through the MA though. I think it's kind of odd when demanded by an MA group.

I went with Century's lower end line. So far, so good. I'll replace it with Top Ten gear piece by piece as needed. Several of my dojo mates (is that a word?) use Top Ten stuff and love it. It seems to hold up quite well too. Expensive, but seems to be worth the money. Buying it all at once is pretty steep, but piece by piece is manageable.

Welcome to the forum

I don't know anyone personally with it, sorry. But if I did, I'd tell you what I'm going to anyway; listen to your cardiologist. Perhaps get 2 opinions. Possibly seek out a cardiologist who deals with athletes. It may very well be a career changing decision that you have to make. Make sure your decision is a well informed one. I'd imagine every case is unique and it's not a one approach fits all thing. Don't jump to conclusions just yet (so much easier said than done!), but at this point be conservative. Right now the conservative mistake is far better than an aggressive mistake. Best of luck to you. Hopefully it'll turn out fine.

Very good kata. I love seeing variations on how I learned and practice kata I know. I haven't seen some of those stances used with some of the moves. For instance... We (I mean my current and former school) go into kiba dachi on counts 2 and 4, whereas you stayed in what looks like kokutsu dachi. At the top of the embussen, you appear to go into a long kokutsu dachi on the first shuto block, followed by a neco ashi dachi on the second (on both sides). We stay in kokutsu dachi, and it's about in the middle of your stance length. At the bottom of the embussen, you go into zenkutsu dachi with the low block, and what appears to be Sanchin dachi on the nukite/jodan uke, whereas we stay in zenkutsu dachi (with the same 45 step). What I love about kata is there is no universal right or wrong, unless of course someone changes it without really understanding it.

My almost 6 year old daughter is 3'10 and weighs 50 lbs. she's not too small to learn karate.