JR 137

From everything I've seen, only the "student" uniforms (as they're usually referred to by the manufacturers) come with white belts. Middle and heavyweight gis most often don't include a belt. How many people just getting started buy a Shureido K-10, Tokaido Ultimate, etc.? It really only makes sense to include a white belt (or any other belt) with the uniform that comes free with signing up for lessons and kids' gis. Don't get hung up on the quality of a colored belt. You usually only wear each one of them for a few months to a year unless you're in a system that only has white, brown and black. KI and Century make good quality colored belts without charging excessive amounts.

Seido Juku, which I'm a student in, uses KI for their black belts. They last quite a while. Seido doesn't issue new black belts with each dan promotion; a new stripe is embroidered on. Very rarely do people get new ones because the old one is too far gone. They're most often replaced due to the karateka losing or gaining weight.

I hit a Wavemaster XXL at my local YMCA. I'd prefer a hanging bag of equal height any day. I've hit all the Wavemasters at one point or another, and IMO they're a convenience alternative, not a replacement. If you can't hang a bag, get a Wavemaster. If you can, get a hanging bag.

i threw a roundhouse kick, which my opponent blocked, and I ended up kicking the point of his elbow with my instep during a tournament. It didn't hurt too much at the time. I stuck around and watched some classmates' kids and younger siblings compete. Sitting in the bleachers, I remember my foot throbbing, but it wasn't too bad. When I tried to take my shoe off at home is when it really started to bother me. And I could barely get my shoe off even after taking out the laces. I went to an urgent care the next day. The doctor looked at it and said "there's no way that thing's not broken." After the X-Ray he came in laughing and said "I guess I should get X-Ray vision before I open my mouth." No break. I had to wear slippers for 5 days unil I could get my foot into any pair shoes I owned. It must have been hilarious to watch me hobbling around in slippers while trying to bartend.

I think you have to define "star pupil." Do you mean athletic ability, catching on/understanding quickly, or willingness to learn? I'd consider a star pupil someone who is genuinely coachable; they listen, ask relevant questions, and try their hardest to implement what's being taught. I've met a ton of excellent athletes (not just in MA) who weren't coachable. They could easily do what they were told, but pretty much always thought they knew better and/or didn't have to listen. I wouldn't call them star pupils.

Shotokan wasn't intended as a name to Funakoshi's style. It was the name given to his dojo by the students who built it for him. Shoto was his pen name, kan meaning house. I read that on the internet, so it has to be true.

I'm still waiting for room in my basement to hang a heavy bag. I've decided on an Outslayer Muay Thai bag. 6 ft bags are the way to go, as you can kick pretty much head to toe height. Without a 6 ft bag, how else can you practice a combination that has knee height or even calf height kicks mixed in with other stuff? A 6 ft bag is good enough for strikes to the entire body, not just waist or thigh height and up.

Are students from the rec center willing to go to the new dojo instead? Or is it too far away? If it's a time and day thing, you could move their classes to the new place and keep the money you pay the rec center. Most likely not that simple and you've considered that.

I'm glad it's working out for you, Lex. The place looks great!

I've been hitting a Wavemaster XXL 3 times a week or so since January. I'd prefer a hanging bag, but without that option available, it's quite good. Pros - It has a large striking area (significantly larger than standard Wavemasters) in width and height It's a bit softer than hanging bags (can be a con, depending on your view) Filled with sand, I haven't knocked it over. Although it is close to a wall, and if I hit it full force with a front push kick or side kick at the right spot it does hit the wall. Not sure if it would topple over or not. The one I hit has the circles/large dots/"scoring zones" as I think Century calls them. Easily worth the extra money as I focus on hitting those; they're at perfect head, stomach and sternum height for me. I hit with shoes and MMA gloves, and it's a community bag at the Y, and the numbers aren't coming off at all. Cons - It travels around while hitting (it might stay more stationary on a rug) It's a lot bigger than the other Wavemasters, so not as easy to move over longer distances The base can angle up and come back down on your toes if you're in close and not careful. That happened to me the first time or two, but I adjusted and it hasn't happened since. It's softer than standard hanging bags, but I can still hit it full force without and realistic issues. I have felt the hard inner core to it once or twice, but it wasn't anything that I've had to avoid People complain about durability. The one I hit is in my local Y, and it's been fine. I want a heavy bag at home, but don't have the space. If I couldn't hang a bag, it's the only one I'd go with. It's expensive, but if you've got the money and can only use a freestanding bag, the Wavemaster XXL with the scoring zones is easily the best one I've hit. I've hit all other Wavemasters and several brands; this one is by far the best. The others' striking surfaces are too small, and the adjustable heights aren't worth the time. You can throw calf height kicks and face height punches in combination on the XXL unlike the others. I really don't like the other standing bags. It took me a week or two to really appreciate the XXL.

HEHEHE! Another new Gi arrived today! All £150 ($212) of it, this one is the full monty - ISAMI! Now I have two not pink Gis! Yipee!! Something I've wondered - how does Isami compare to Tokaido or Shureido? Material and cut-wise. I've seen a lot of them, but I haven't touched one.

Life gets in the way. The younger you were when you started, the greater the chance of leaving or taking time off. I started at 18 years old. I trained for nearly 6 years, then left to go to grad school (I went away for undergrad, but was close enough to commute - 1 hour away from the dojo). The 5 or 6 guys who started around the same time as me were about the same age. 1 guy was in town for college, and went back home a year or two after graduating. Me and one other guy went away for school. Another guy left when he got into the police academy; he works overnight and has 3 kids. Another guy went to the Marines. I bump into some people from the dojo every now and then that trained when I did. My CI closed the dojo and turned his part time dojo near his house full time, which is about an hour away. The people remaining from my era stopped training. Out of all of us, we he one guy I tested for shodan with hasn't stopped training with my original Sensei. He was just promoted to 5th dan a few months ago. He lives near the current dojo, went to college locally, is married with no kids, and works a normal 9-5 job. Life took us all in different directions. I sometimes wonder where I'd be if I never stopped training. Had I not left for grad school, I wouldn't have been in the same place at the same time as my wife the night I met her. That also negates my kids. And the career path and places I've lived and been. I have no regrets. Just the opposite, actually.

Greatest or best? They're not one in the same. Best is debatable. I don't think he's better nor greater than #23 was. Certainly a 1st ballot hall of famer and easily one of the best ever. But is he a household name like Michael Jordan was (and possibly still is)? He's not in my all-time starting five. Here's mine, in case anyone's interested... Point guard - Earvin "Magic" Johnson Shooting guard - Larry Bird Small forward - Michael Jordan Power forward - Tim Duncan Center - Hakim Olajuwon

Trick solved - Kanazawa Sensei.

We had 25 students (all adults, except 1) at our Kagami Biraki (New Years traditional workout). There wasn't very much room to move. We have 2 classes per night, on Monday-Thursday and Saturday. The kids' classes average around 10, and the adult classes other than black belt class will have about 5-8, depending on the night. 10 is a big class in our dojo. We get a pretty good turnout, relatively speaking, during promotional tests. There's typically 2 or 3 adult kyus testing, but a lot of people, especially black belts, show up to support those testing and be sparring partners. Partially due to our size, we're very tight-knit. We're pretty black belt heavy, currently with only about 5 out of about 22 adults being kyus (myself included).

Very good post. I understand people wanting to wear the same belt given to them by someone special, such as a deceased instructor, but but not promoting seems a bit odd to me. People (like me) think rank in and of itself doesn't really mean much. But if it doesn't mean much, why the resistance to promote? Seems like a bit of an oxymoron to me. I mean, if you didn't really care about being a nidan, why care if someone (you respect) wants to promote you to sandan? If it's truly the belt itself you hold closely (as sentimental), wear the same belt. I like how Seido keeps the same black belt and just adds emdroidered stripes when a student promotes rather than a new belt every time (other than ceremonial/special occasion belts).

Since I take this thread as marketing research and not truly what the OP states, I'll rant a bit about MA suppliers... 1. If you don't have the item in stock, DON'T TAKE THE ORDER! - Why is it every time I order something, I get an email back a few days later (if they bother) to tell me it's out of stock, and they offer me somethings else for the same price? 2. Don't tell me what I want or don't want. Tell me what I'm inquiring about isn't what I think it is and I most likely won't be happy with it, but don't tell me "You don't want that." 3. Don't lie to me. - Don't tell me something is an inferior item when I know both items and the one you're trying to sell me instead isn't better. Don't tell me the material isn't cotton canvas, but rather twill when in fact it really is cotton canvas. 3. Ship the stuff out the same day I order it, unless I messed the cutoff time. If I messed the cutoff time, ship it the next business day. 4. Give me a tracking number. I want to know when to expect it. Due to all of these things, I'm done with Kinjisan. The most recent is my sparring gear order. I ordered last Saturday. I got an email saying the order is pending review. I emailed back on Wednesday, got no response. I called Thursday and was informed they're waiting for a shipment from Century to come in that night. He told me he'd send it priority mail (like he was doing me a favor). I emailed Saturday about the status of the order, with no response. Here it is 10 days later and I highly doubt the stuff has shipped. I'll call again after lunch today. Most likely going to cancel the order and pay $20 more from Century directly. A while back I asked about the Shureido K-11, as I was looking for a medium weight gi. I was told it was twill and not canvas. I was also told they're not made in a traditional cut. And I was told there's a problem with Shureido's factory and no one in the US had access to their stuff. All lies. Then there's the fiasco of every time I've tried to order something, they're out of stock and I'm offered a "better" thing for the same price. Hasn't been better yet. Edit: To follow up, I called them yesterday. I was told it was shipped on Friday and should've gotten a tracking number. I was told he'd email me the tracking number. 2 hours later I got an email saying it was just dropped off at UPS and I should get it the next day. So no emails were answered, and it wasn't until I called that they realized they never sent my stuff out (4 days later). What if I didn't call? Wonder why I'm done with them? With a free shipping coupon, Century would have been $11 more. Should've went with them. I want to support the Mom & Pop guys, but it's getting ridiculous.

Kyokushin certainly makes it very easy with their Isami gear!

Our dojo has 40-50 students. And we're less than half the average tuition price. Adults are $55/month, kids are $45/month. Each family member takes $10 off the regular price (i.e. I pay $55, my daughter pays $35; when my other daughter goes, she'll pay $35). My CI and his wife just retired from good paying day jobs. We're pretty sure the dojo pays for itself, pays for their training, and maybe a nice vacation every year. They opened a dojo because they love training and teaching, and an infamous split of the top two instructors in the area resulting in no Seido dojo to train at least until they opened their's.

What to do really depends on where you are in life. For example, my father owns a '71 Mercedes 280 SL. Being a mechanic, he bought it from a customer of his. The car needed a lot of labor intensive work that the previous owner wasn't willing to pay for. About 15 years later, a friend of his offered him $85k for the car. My father thought about, but realized he didn't need the money. His house is paid for. His children have been put through school. He owns a vacation/retirement house. He came to the conclusion that he doesn't need the money. The offer was a good offer, and $85k would be a solid return on his investment, but at the end of the day, he likes the car. He told the guy he'd call him first if he needs the money in the future. Me, I need the money. I don't own my house. I have 5 and 3 year old daughters who'll need money for school, proms, weddings, etc. At the end of the day, it's a matter of do you need the money or not. If the extra money is going to allow you to do the things you need to do, then by all means take the money. If you've got enough and you're genuinely content, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I wonder if those kicks are used at long range because it takes a lot of proficiency and flexibility to kick high and with fluidity at close range. I'm not sure I will ever develop that level of flexibility, not that I don't try. Evading the spinning hook kick at close range is really tough. Sometimes one can see the shoulder move and try to move in the direction of the turn, but that reaction needs to be trained so that it's automatic (along with getting the hands up). One other thing that I believe causes issues with range is the overemphasis on non-contact to light contact point sparring. People used to sparring in this manner learn to execute techniques at ranges well outside where they would be effective. I'm not saying that everyone needs to take up full contact sparring, but if that is not part of the sparring done at a school, then drills at close range should be done so that the practitioner can learn how close in he/she really needs to be for a technique to work. My flexibility is horrible. I struggle to get roundhouse and side kicks to ribs level. Somehow, I can hook kick the back of the head of an opponent my height. The spinning hook kick is a bit trickier, but I can get that one up there too. For both of them, I've got to be pretty close; shoulder to shoulder, otherwise it doesn't work. Any further, and I'm hook kicking the ribs. No idea why or how; it just is. I hit a heavy bag 3 times a week, and I can't get anywhere near as high on it.

I find range is the second most important thing, after when to use the technique. This isn't just for stuff like joint locks and throws. For example, why are the high spinning kicks such low percentage and high risk techniques? They're being used wrong. Most people assume long range for them. I'll only throw a back spin kick (360 degree spin while throwing a hook kick) at very close range. Here's what I mean... I'll get in very close, to the point where my opponent is almost leaning on me. I'll knock their lead hand down (regardless of if they're punching, reaching for a grab, grabbing, or even just have their hands up), and when they move in closer, I'll spin out, so to speak, while throwing the kick to the back of their head. Depending on how the opponent is moving, I'll either spin or throw a non-spinning hook kick to the back of the head. Either way, I'm pretty much shoulder to shoulder with the opponent. It only works if it's a fluid motion with no hesitation anywhere along the way. I land that kick with very high frequency under those circumstances. There's two guys in the dojo who've told me they've been looking for it whenever I get close, but it still gets them every time. If I try to throw either of those two kicks under different conditions, it's more luck than anything else. When I was wrestling, I found out the hard way that everything has its proper distance/range, and proper time to execute it. You can't force a technique or even plan on using one. You only really use something when the opportunity presents itself. Setting things up helps a bit. I've carried that over into karate, and life in general.

I don't know all of the required kata in Seido as I haven't seen a full syllabus to the highest dan ranks. Here's what I know of, not it rank order... Kyu grades Taikyoku 1-3 Pinan 1-5 Seido 1-4 (Kaicho Nakamura's creation) Sanchin Gekisai Dai Yantsu Tsuki No Saiha Tensho Shodan Seido 5 Gekisai Sho Seiunchin Nidan Koryu Gojushiho (called Sushiho in Kyokushin; heavily modified Gojushiho) Sandan Kanku Seido Empi No Kata Dai Yondan Seido Empi No Kata Sho There are Bo, Jo, and Sai kata at dan levels too. I've once heard there's a katana kata at 6th or 7th dan, but I could be mistaken. I know there is katana stuff at the higher levels. There may be more dan level kata, but those are the only ones I know of. Notably absent (to me) is Unsu. My previous organization taught it at Nidan, and I always wanted to learn it.

The Goju kata I've seen are mainly the 12 you listed from Gekisai Dai Ichi - Suparimpei. I know of Goju schools adding a few like Taikyoku 1-3, but that's about it. I googled Gekisai Dai San and saw some videos. It looked like a blend of Sanchin in the beginning followed by Gekisai Dai Ni. Here's a video of Gekisai Sho from Kyokushin... Seido performs the movement going up the middle in the beginning a little differently, but that's the only difference. Kyokushin credits the kata to Miyagi, but I have strong doubts.

Taikyoku kata were created by Gichin Funakoshi. I'm interested in Gekisai Dai San. Any video of it? Kyokushin and offshoots do Gekisai Sho. It's reportedly a Miyagi kata, but I highly doubt it is. Primary reason being I haven't heard of anyone doing Gekisai Sho outside of Kyokushin and offshoots. I've never heard of Gekisai Dai San until now. It may possibly be what we call Gekisai Sho.