JR 137

I used to work with a strength & conditioning coach who didn't feel like he was pushing hard enough until everyone vomited. Div I football guys. One of my favorite lines - "Hey Marra, you're either puking or running, and right now you're not doing either, so let's go!!!" The guys would usually throw up in a predictable order. Our QB who started a few seasons for the Arizona Cardinals was typically the second to last one, and a LB who was on the Vikings roster for a few seasons was always last. Once those two threw up, the S&C coach was satisfied. Last I heard, that S&C coach was with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

There is a lot to work with. If you work out regularly outside the dojo (say every Monday, Wednesday, Friday), you can plan ahead on what you'll do - Monday kicks, Wednesday punches/hand strikes, Friday kata. Then you can rotate that, get more specific within that, do other stuff like combinations one day, cardio another, flexibility another day. The possibilities are endless. If you don't have a set schedule, that's when things get tricky. Having a 2 year old and a 4 year old, I'm lucky I get to the dojo 2-3 times a week. My wife also tries to go to yoga and/or Pilates 2-3 times a week. Not very much time left for focused and productive work outs outside the dojo. No complaints from me; I wouldn't want it any other way.

In my studies, the pic is kokutsu dachi. Nekoashi dachi is very similar; the front foot would be closer to the back foot. The pic does seem a bit closer than usual, but pics can be deceiving. Everyone's stance is their own as well.

Welcome to the chest club. It seems like a lot favour this position and I can see why. It is so practical doing it this way oppose to looking elsewhere. I do, however suppose it is personal preference. Just reminded me of a funny situation from a while back... I taught a karate class for the Phys Ed. department at a college I worked at a while back. I had a very small group one day, so we did non-contact sparring; it was 3 punches (that were blocked), then the other person did their 3. Anyway, I was working with a young lady who said awkwardly, yet politely, "can you please stop staring at my chest." Luckily, I had 2 female students in the class at the time with MA experience who corroborated my story. After that round, I taught the students to look at their opponent's chest, not their eyes, and explained why. I also told my boss, figuring I should tell her first in case we had a sexual harassment complaint on our hands. Thankfully, the student understood I wasn't checking her out.

Clothing (uniforms are a type of clothes, after all) is such a personal thing. There's so many factors that it's impossible for anyone to be able to tell someone else exactly what they'll like. Several current classmates wear KI Mugen gis. They're good gis, but they're not for me. I own a KI 14oz heavyweight, having taken it for a few bucks extra over the free pajamas version of a gi when I signed up. It's a good gi, but the cut doesn't feel exactly right and it's too heavy for my taste. A lot of my classmates love them. Different horses for different courses. I had all my KI Gis tailored for me. An extra 15-20 dollars and they are perfect for me. I have heavyweight model which is perfect in winter and the lighter model for spring and summer. I do admit though the shureido is much softer and I love the snap in it. I'm not giving up on it just yet, but my KIs will always be in my closet. I like my KI heavyweight. Biggest issue is the jacket is too short and doesn't stay tied. After about 6 months, it's starting to turn gray. I only wash it with whites, so it's like something bled into it. And it's way too heavy, but I sweat stinging still, so take that as you will. Ronin's ties are the best I've seen. They've stayed tied no matter what so far.

Another chest man. I don't really focus hard on it though. I kind of relax my eyes/ease my focus. I used to look into my opponent's eyes until the first time I seriously (for me anyway) sparred against my old sensei. He had this look of death/murder in his eyes that I'll never forget nor give anyone else the chance to "own me" with it. That was the night before his 4th dan test and he was very fired up.

A strength & conditioning coach told me that the exercise you need to do the most is the one you hate the most. Why do you hate it the most? Because you're not good enough at it to like it or be indifferent to it. It's very hard to hate something if you get really good at it. You're not truly good at something until it feels natural to you. When I train on my own, I try to do the things I need the most work on. Right now it's hip flexibility/mobility. It's still pretty uncomfortable to kick higher than waist height with roundhouse kicks. But that doesn't mean do what you need most exclusively either. Mix it up in a single session. Going to exhaustion can be counter productive. When you start overdoing it, your mechanics suffer, thereby risking engraining poor mechanics into muscle memory. Overdoing it can also cause injury faster than almost anything else. There's a fine line between doing enough and doing too much; the better you know your body, the easier it is to find it. The only thing I won't do in solo training is stuff I'm not fully confidant with. I've found out the hard way that if I do a kata or any other new echnique wrong 100 times, it'll take doing it right about 500 times to correct it to the point I no longer have to make a conscious effort not to do it. It kills me to learn something new in the dojo and not come home and practice it right away. But I learned that I'm better waiting.

I was talking to my CI about this movie last night after class. He trained with several of the guys in the movie when he was in Kyokushin and followed Nakamura to Seido. This includes the 4 main guys and several others who are in the background. He's not in it the movie though. He said that day in and day out training wasn't as intense as the movie depicts. Some of it was day to day stuff, but a lot of it was an elite group training specifically for the tournament and for the camera. He said the shodan test in the movie was an exaggeration, and was exactly like black belt and kyu tests were though. Shigeru Oyama was every bit as intense off camera as he was on camera. Nakamura has a more reserved personality on camera, and that's exactly how he was off camera. He's mellowed out a bit as he's 40 years older now, but he's still pretty intense at the appropriate time. I met a few of the now Seido guys from the film at that workout a few months back. I didn't realize who most of them were. Even without knowing this stuff, it's still a great film. A real life Bloodsport meets 70s blaxploitation.

I agree with where you're coming from. However, some of the WANT to be kicked out. The parents may have sent them there to learn self discipline, control, etc. in a way that they can't teach it. An instructor has to either accept the role of being a person who helps this student or reject it. I'm not saying everyone should or shouldn't reject it; that's up to the teacher. A lot of kids who act like this actually want to please people, they just don't know how. They want to do the right thing, but it doesn't come easy to them. If the only meaningful attention they're getting (in their eyes) is negative attention, then so be it. With these types, the harder you push, the harder they'll push back. The littlest bit of praise goes a long way, even if they hide it. Praise them for overcoming their behavior (even if they only overcame it for a minute), and they'll start to turn around. Treat them like you want them there, rather than them being "sentenced to it," and they'll get comfortable with the positive energy. Earning their trust and therefore their respect takes a very long time. If you treat them the same as you treat everyone else, you won't get anywhere. Keep in mind that treating everyone equally doesn't inherently mean treating everyone the same way. Everyone's different. Do you want to be treated exactly the same way as everyone else in the dojo? I'm better at some things than others in my dojo, and there's things I need work on that others don't. Treating me the same way as everyone else doesn't make the dojo a special place for me. I think everyone feels that way in one way or another. Being a school teacher, I see examples of these kids in every class I teach, every day. My advice is so much easier said than done, especially in the heat of the moment. You can't measure progress day to day or even month to month sometimes. Sometimes, you have to look at where they were when they started, and where they are overall. I had a student with severe behavior issues last year. In a meeting with the parents in April, the parents were complaining that he had a horrible month or so, and he was regressing. My reply was "Remember how he was in September? Do you see a significant change? Overall what we're doing is working; we just have to tweak a few things." It's the instructor's decision to take these students on or not. No one should feel obligated to do so. Being a student in your dojo is a privilege, not a mandated right. You're not a better person or worse person for accepting them or turning them away, respectively. You've got to remain true to yourself and your business.

Clothing (uniforms are a type of clothes, after all) is such a personal thing. There's so many factors that it's impossible for anyone to be able to tell someone else exactly what they'll like. Several current classmates wear KI Mugen gis. They're good gis, but they're not for me. I own a KI 14oz heavyweight, having taken it for a few bucks extra over the free pajamas version of a gi when I signed up. It's a good gi, but the cut doesn't feel exactly right and it's too heavy for my taste. A lot of my classmates love them. Different horses for different courses.

Absolutely agreed. There's no way I'm giving unsolicited advice to anyone. I used to be a black belt. Key words being "used to be." I also used to be in college and drank and "dated" like there was no tomorrow. I don't pretend I'm still that guy any more either.

I miss my K-10. I wore one before I took my 15 year hiatus from karate. It somehow got lost in one of the 4 moves between grad school and my current house. Everything you said is spot on about it. To me, it's the perfect gi. The most impressive thing to me was that I worked out in it for an average of 2-3 hours, 4 days a week for 5 years, and it was just as white as the day the blue tint went away. My tailor told me the blue tint was ultraviolet brightener (I think those are the words), and it is used to keep it from turning yellow and/or gray over the course of time. I had a Century heavyweight beforehand, and that's what just about everyone else wore. They'd turn colors in about 6 months. The shureido stayed white. I just recently bought a Ronin heavyweight (12 oz.) in white. Great for the money and cut almost exactly like the K-10, but it's no K-10. M definitely satisfied with it, but I'll buy a Shureido when I have the disposable income. For future reference, Shureido USA will do full alterations and will mix pants and jacket sizes. Not sure how much for extensive alterations, but they quoted me $10 for sleeves and $10 for pant length. They quoted me $178 for a size 5 K-10. I didn't buy one as I had some stuff come up, but they'll have you measure yourself in a bunch of places and get you the best fitting off the shelf jacket and pants. You pay a bit more, but you get your money's worth with them. Their weapons are equally top notch. I had a bo, and several guys I trained with had their sais. At the same impeccable level as their gis. Shureido vs Tokaido is a common argument. A classmate had a Tokaido Ultimate, and it was the K-10's equal in every way IMO. Cut very different though - Shureido is a stocky guy's gi, whereas Tokaido is a tall and narrow guy's gi. Just a bit of an FYI. I'm jealous of your gi! EDIT: I was quoted $178 for a K-11, not a K-10.

A lot of associations change the katas themselves now, especially in Shotokan. Taikyoku kata is somewhat a relic, I learned it on a special Dan course. Shotokan have the basic kata Kihon, straight into Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan etc. Interesting. Our dojo does Taikyoku 1 pretty much every class. Even advanced classes. We use it to warm up and get ourselves in kata mode, so to speak. For as many times as I've done it, and as truly simple as it is, I can still improve. Sometimes I feel my balance isn't quite right on turns, sometimes I don't pivot my front foot enough on turns, my stance my be too narrow on some steps, etc. The old "ren ma" mentality.

Taikyoku 3 feels very awkward at first. Transitioning to and from kokutsu dachi feels awkward, then the 270 degree spin from zenkutsu dachi to kokutsu dachi throws things off more. Keep at it, it'll get significantly more natural. Then you won't do it for a while as you progress in rank and kata complexity, and when you go back to it, it'll feel weird all over again. Previously studying Shotokan, you've never done them before? They were developed by Gichin Funakoshi. I wonder how many Shotokan schools don't do Taikyoku kata. Seems odd to me; kind of like if a Goju Ryu school didn't do Gekisai Dai.

Ah the Gi of my friend the KarateNerd, Jesse Enkamp - they are good Gis, I own 3 myself. I would recommend one. Can you compare it's cut to anything else - ie Shureido or Tokaido? I looked into it, but I'm so limited in what fits right. Traditional cut gis cut like a Shureido are the only ones.

Which kata did you learn, Taikyoku 1-3? Glad you're liking what you're doing. Kyokushin derived styles seem much more natural to me than others. I've worked out with a lot of people from different styles. I genuinely respect them all, and don't think the others are wrong and Kyokushin-types are right, but Kyokushin styles have just suited me best. It's probably my body type and view of what it should feel like.

I just don't want to step on any toes. As counterintuitive as it sounds, I'd rather a black belt ask me for help. I'd rather a black belt say 'I haven't done this kata in a few years; what step am I missing?" It's odd teaching something I'm not supposed to know yet. Add to that that I don't want people thinking I'm walking around giving people above me unsolicited advice about stuff I'm not supposed to know yet. I'm probably making more of it than I should though.

Had a funny situation last night in class that IMMEDIATELY made me think of this thread... We had a kata specific class last night. Black belts are performing their kata, and myself and the other 2 kyu students are standing in the back waiting our turn. One shodan was doing Seiunchin and skipped about 4 steps in the middle of it. I immediately picked up on it, but kept my mouth shut. He stops and looks at the instructor running class with a puzzled look, to which the instructor tells him he's right. 2 steps later they both realize he skipped ahead too far. In the locker room, the shodan says to me, laughingly "why didn't you correct me?" He knows I know the kata and was watching. "You could have gestured (posing in the step he forgot to do)." My reply - "I'm a yellow belt. Do you really think I should have corrected a 6th dan and a shodan, even though I was right? I know my role." Also it should be noted that it was my first time in that instructor's class. We both laughed. Let the teacher teach. On another note, but subject related... A student who outranks me asked me a few times about a kata she's just learned - Saiha. She knows I know it very well; I won first place a few times performing it in competition (she doesn't know that). Here I am a yellow belt, showing an advanced brown belt how to do an advanced brown belt kata. This was on two occasions, once before class and once after another class. Both times the instructor was busy with someone else. I felt pretty awkward, and quietly and as quickly as possible gave her pointers on what she asked. Do I tell her to ask someone else, or do I help again in the same situation? I didn't approach her in any way; she came to me. No one's said anything, but I think because they didn't notice. I don't want to be that guy in the dojo who knows everything, but I also want to help someone with a simple thing if they ask me.

If you get stuck on a kata, except for the Seido series, use this... All Kyokushin kata. Very few subtle changes. Useful for those moments of sorting out the order of things, can't remember the next step, etc. there's no instruction, only someone performing to someone else's count. It's easy to blend Pinan 2 and 3, especially when first learning them.

One of my old instructors used to have the kids bring blindfolds for kata class at times. Even the most simple ones become difficult as people end up on the other side of the room, lol. I'm pretty sure it's for kata and other solo stuff. Making it so you can't cheat by copying others if you forget something. Our sensei has us close our eyes and do stuff every now and then. Sometimes I end up in the right spot. Other times I've ended up facing about 90 degrees the wrong way.

In Seido, we have chudan uchi uke, and chudan soto uke. Occasionally the chudan part is dropped, as there's no high or low equivalent of them. Chudan uchi uke - Middle inside-out block. Starts from the inside with the arms crossed about chest height, the non-blocking hand gets chambered while the blocking hand goes to outside of the body. If a punch is coming, you're deflecting the punch toward the attacker's outside, opening up their torso for a counter. Chudan soto uke - Middle outside-in block. Non-blocking hand comes across the chest while the blocking arm reaches out past the torso, elbow and shoulder at about 90 degrees. Non-blocking hand gets chambered at the armpit while the blocking arm swings from outside your body to just past your sternum. If a punch is coming, it's deflected across the attacker's body, leaving the ribs open and in a defenseless position. I've heard Enshin refer to this position as the blind spot; JKD as the defenseless pocket. I've seen some Okinawan systems do these (particularly Uechi Ryu) in a way that looks completely different. But every different way I've seen them done has pretty much the same effect when attacked - deflect the punch across the attacker's body or away from the attacker's body. The chambering hand can also be used as a grab with the "blocking hand" being a strike. The blocking hand can also grab with the deflection. What it looks like without an attacker and what you call it doesn't matter. The application is what's important, and most traditional schools apply them the same way. Same goes for low block (gedan brai) and high block (jodan uke). Sport karate is a different matter.

Which one are you working on? I'm on Seido 2. I know all the non-Seido kata except Tsuki No from my previous system.

Fully agree. Being a school teacher, I find this generation of kids is the generation of ZERO accountability. Nothing is EVER their fault. Kids don't fail classes, teachers fail them. When a kids acts up and disrespects someone older than them, the mentality is "what did you do to my kid to make him/her do that?" Kids these days don't know the meaning of a very old, simple and and effective word: "No." My kids do. A lot of people think I'm too hard on my kids. I guess telling them no is mean nowadays.

In Seido we wear a white gi, full length pants, sleeves near the wrists. Sleeves can and are usually rolled half way up the arm. Sleeves are supposed to go past the elbow (on the forearm), but some people ignore that one. Personally, I like everyone wearing the same thing. It doesn't turn into a fashion show. Nothing wrong with dojos having other policies either. My former school also had the policy that everyone wears the same sparring gear. Everyone looks the same, and there's no question about safety.

I've heard people testing under Nakamura are required to bring blindfolds. Hopefully they're not used during kumite!!!