Titanium

Interesting thing I heard - the Stars and Stripes gi worn by Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis and the rest of that crew was designed and initially paid for by Elvis Pressley. He sponsored them at some level and wanted them to stand out in the sea of plain white gis. His custom gi with bell bottoms and the collar was his own, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have worn that anyway. I think a few of them actually hated them at first, but either got used to them or just shut up and wore them because Elvis was bankrolling them. Not sure how much truth to that there is; you know if it's on the Internet, it has to be true. I never knew that. God yeah...the Internet doesn't lie.

In our Dojo: > 15 minute warm-up > 40 minutes training (kihon & kata) > 10 minute break > 45 minutes (extra kata and kumite) > 10 minutes warm-down and massage Ours are based on a 2 hour session.

I agree on that. Rich98, out of the whole lesson duration the actual training is very limited. With the Sensei hardly being there I think you need to consider another Dojo if you feel that it is not quite right. I would expect the Sensei to be there all of the time unless illness, courses or anything else become apparent which cannot be avoided. YouTube is a good idea to get that extra practice in - is there another high grade there that you can talk to about it? What style of karate is it? E.g. Wado, Shotokan, Shito-ryu, Kyokushinkai etc.

Thank you Hawkmoon, I really do appreciate your kind words.

Hello Rich98 and welcome to KF, The price for both of them training three times a week sounds a fair price to me - for just me training three times a week is costs me £60 - lessons £5 for two hours - 15 minute warm-up deducted from training time. As with one of your children, it is normal for some practitioners to become a little bored especially at a young age - it is different for older practitioners who can fully grasp the concept. Basics is normal at this level that the initial sessions can be laborious but I advise your 10 year old to stick-in there. The higher the grade the more interesting principles (so I find). Now and again the instructor can ask another higher ranking practitioners to teach the beginners while the instructor is teaching more advanced stuff to the higher grades. In my Dojo our instructor ensures he works with everyone and only on Thursday's lower grade class do we split up in two groups; one with Sensei (7th Dan) the other with me (3rd Dan). This is to ensure that the groups still have a Dan grade teaching them. Which school is it if you don't mind me asking? Have any of them done a grading yet? At four months, I would expect a grasp of some of the basics and possibly an introduction to some of the Kata's (at least the basic Kata depending on style of karate).

Very good evaluation - a new spin of the Art of War - a particular favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing.

Correct - be extra careful when looking for a school - some cults take the same approach. Yes that's right I said 'cults' - as Spartacus Maximus has said...do your research first.

Yeah we must try again in the future. I am a novice to the fantasy football, however I'll give it a pretty darn good go.

It can soon turn from a karate blog to a personal blog. After a good number of weeks and there is little hits, its probably best to give it up as a bad job unless you consider advertising or using a custom domain. Videos is the thing nowadays or 'vlogging'

Thank you.

There's a place in England called Skegness, its coastal; there is a shop there that sells all kinds of swords. It is engraved with a Japanese proverb - Fall down seven times, get up eight. I had to buy it...it sits in our Dojo where karatekas can have a look at it. Was £399 got it for £120.

I completely agree with you, the fact that you can always refer back to it too. Wordpress has more customisable features which I like. What's your blog address, I'd like to have a look around.

My main solo training consisted of a lot of kata and basics. I have always considered basics, kihon, something in which should be done no matter what grade. Even at 3rd Dan, I will be doing a gyakuzuki for hours on end to ensure that it is perfect. The most important thing in solo training is perfecting what you know. It's better to do one punch perfectly flawless than 10 punches poorly.

Thanks for sharing, I will look into this. Is the information contained, practical and useful?

A great gi, I'm sure you'll have many, many years of great training in it. Fabulous snap effect on those gis. Thanks for sharing the label too - I have always like the statement on the bottom "the birthplace of karate".

I think a blog is like a forum - the hardest part is getting members or a large quantity of readers.

That sounds a great idea. I'm up for blogging participation. If anyone would like another author on their blog please ask. I had a blog about Japanese Proverbs one, had over 19,000 hits in its first year and my other assistant author locked me out the fool. (now closed down) Blogger - great Wordpress - great blog.com - slow and full of errors.

Same here my friend, thank you for bailing me out. Great to see you fellow Wado practitioner.

Thank you kindly.

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.

Might be difference in styles, but when we do kata we always do Taikyoku sono Ichi and Taikyoku sono San (we do Taikyoku sono Ni sometimes but not always). While they seem basic on the surface, there is a lot of good stuff in them...I'm still working on getting all of the stance transitions right. Just curious...how is the Kyokushin version of Kokutsu Dachi different? That's all I know at this point, my previous style (TKD) has an L-stance which I keep going back to when I get tired or lazy. Most pressure on the back leg with the from only having 20% weight on it. It can be a more relaxing stance but after a while the rear leg starts to ache. Taiyoku is something that a lot of Kyu grades may not be aware of nowadays. Excellent explanation, I read that last night but was on scene guard at work and didn't think it appropriate to post a reply! Shotokan Kokutsu : http://50.6.62.250/images/images24/P5080003.JPG Kyokushin kokutsu : This stance is similar to what we do in Wado (with the heel being lifted from the floor), in Shotokan especially the KUGB we had the front foot flat on the floor. I have always liked this stance as I really like how the stance and weight transfer changes.

Might be difference in styles, but when we do kata we always do Taikyoku sono Ichi and Taikyoku sono San (we do Taikyoku sono Ni sometimes but not always). While they seem basic on the surface, there is a lot of good stuff in them...I'm still working on getting all of the stance transitions right. Just curious...how is the Kyokushin version of Kokutsu Dachi different? That's all I know at this point, my previous style (TKD) has an L-stance which I keep going back to when I get tired or lazy. Most pressure on the back leg with the from only having 20% weight on it. It can be a more relaxing stance but after a while the rear leg starts to ache. Taiyoku is something that a lot of Kyu grades may not be aware of nowadays.

I know what you are saying, I think in line of the what I am going to describe of 'showy' arts, the fancy tricks that wouldn't work in real fights dominate the mags. Serious content rarely exists in such.

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. They are similar to Shureido, good snap effect, look extra thick but are like wearing a super light weight, thats why I love them. You can pick them up new for less than some Shureido's. Viper is also of a similarity but not near the quality of the finishing. They are traditional, shorter bottoms and elongated top endings.

You're right - if you look at any magazine rack, the MA or combat area is almost bare. Its very sad this...I'm sure they can be ordered online, however it would be great to walk into any shops that sell mags and pick up a few MA mags; the demand must be down.